Clandon Barrow
Encyclopedia
Clandon Barrow is a very large bowl barrow
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...

 dating from the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...

, which overlooks the village of Martinstown, near Dorchester in Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

, and which lies on the same ridge as Maiden Castle
Maiden Castle, Dorset
Maiden Castle is an Iron Age hill fort south west of Dorchester, in the English county of Dorset. Hill forts were fortified hill-top settlements constructed across Britain during the Iron Age...

. It was excavated by Edward Cunnington in 1882. Gold objects were found including a cup and the Clandon Lozenge. The lozenge has recently been studied along with a similar artifact from Bush Barrow (near Stonehenge) . It has now been clearly demonstrated that both the form and decorative elements of these lozenges were based on geometric designs. The Clandon example was created with decagon based geometry, the Bush Barrow
Bush Barrow
Bush Barrow is a site of the early British Bronze Age , at the western end of the Normanton Down Barrows cemetery. It is among the most important sites of the Stonehenge complex. It was excavated in 1808 by Sir Richard Colt Hoare and William Cunnington...

example was based on a hexagon. However some people prefer to believe the lozenge provides geometric information about the movement of the stars and seasons for this latitude.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK