The Scouring of the White Horse: Archaeology, Identity, and "Heritage"

The Uffington White Horse geoglyph as sun-horse

“…That the Uffington geoglyph remains a visible feature with fidelity to its original form is highly remarkable and entirely due to regular maintenance or ‘scouring’ (Barclay et al 2003a: 245). Historical records from the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries document scouring events at intervals of between 4 and 21 years; and “the conclusion seems inescapable that the horse has been scoured at least once every generation for almost three millennia, if not more” (Schwyzer 1999: 42). Against this repetition of practice—an almost institutionalised process of incorporated memory-work (Connerton 1989)—is the loss at some point in its history of its original role as a sun-horse.…”

“…Against this repetition of practice—an almost institutionalised process of incorporated memory-work (Connerton 1989)—is the loss at some point in its history of its original role as a sun-horse. Certainly since its first documentary reference in the Abingdon cartularies and appearance on a list of the Wonders of Britain of the later eleventh century AD (Cromarty et al 2003: 16), it has been the “site of shifting and contested meanings” (Schwyzer 1999: 42).…”

Questioning religious essentialism – Ritual change and religious instability in ancient China

“…By doing so, archaeologists postulate a continuation between present day religious practices and past ones, despite the fact that dramatic changes in politics, technologies, and economies have occurred (Pauketat, 2012: 15–16). Indeed, this approach is prevalent in archaeological studies—from those on North American Mississippian cultures to aboriginal societies in Australia (e.g., David, 2002; Insoll, 2001; Marcus and Flannery, 1994; Pauketat, 2004; Schwyzer, 1999).…”