Wayland's Smithy
Wayland 's Smithy (English " Wieland's Smithy" - also called Smitty ) at Swindon and Compton Beauchamp is a grave hills in Oxfordshire, whose oldest expansion took place about 5,500 years ago. It was built on a low hill near the White Horse Hills.
Excavations
The grave was opened in the 1920s, from 1962 to 1963 unearthed by RJ C. Atkinson and Stuart Piggott and re-examined in the 1980s by Alasdair Whittle.
First construction phase
The 16.5 m long oval grave mound was made of chalk, which was taken from pits on site, piled up and secured to the sides with stone slabs. Inside there was a wooden chamber, containing the mortal remains of 15 persons. It is believed that the burial ground was used as a place for ceremonies of the community and as a symbol of ownership of the land by the group.
Passage grave
Around the year 3300, a new hill was built over the old BC around. This second stage covers the first complete. This second stage is four times longer and built in a much more accurate trapezoidal shape. Again circles was filled and limited the edges with time larger stone slabs. In the wider end of the hill, which was bounded by high stone blocks, a dolmen with side chambers was installed. On the other end of the hill falls flat and is bounded by small stone slabs. It is believed that this second burial site was a few centuries in use. A precise statement of this is difficult, since in the first excavation in 1920 in the plundered grave only the ransacked remains have been found of at least eight people.
Name
The grave mound was baptized 4000 years after the construction of the second stage of construction Wayland 's Smithy. The Saxons took the hill and considered it a work of her mythical hero Wieland the Smith ( Wayland the Smith). Over time, the superstition developed that Wieland the smith the horseshoe the horse Traveller replaced if they put a silver penny in addition to the grave hill ( The use of metal detectors on the premises is strictly prohibited. ).
The grave is now owned by English Heritage and is supported by this service.
Entrance to the grave chamber of the second stage
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