| P number: | P211520 |
|---|---|
| Old photograph number: | A11945 |
| Caption: | Wayland's Smithy long barrow, Berkshire. Looking north. |
| Description: | The Chalk downland area known as the Ridgeway, forming the southern edge of the Vale of the White Horse, is one of several areas littered with sarsen sandstone blocks. The sandstones are the remnants of a former Tertiary sedimentary cover and in some areas may be very abundant as at Clatford Bottom. Wayland's Smithy, named after the Saxon god of metalworking, is a neolithic long barrow constructed of silica-cemented, sandstone blocks known as sarsen stones or sometimes greywethers. Sarsen stones are widely used in southern Britain at prehistoric sites including Avebury, Long Kennet and Stonehenge. Although best known as standing stones the sandstones were once extensively quarried on the Marlborough Downs for building stone. However, many standing stones are also believed to have been removed from the prehistoric structures for building purposes in earlier times. |
| Date taken: | 01/01/1970 |
| Photographer: | Pulsford, J.M. |
| Copyright statement: | NERC |
| X longitude/easting: | 426500 |
| Y latitude/northing: | 185500 |
| Coordinate reference system, ESPG code: | 27700 (OSGB 1936 / British National Grid) |
| Orientation: | Landscape |
| Size: | 292.07 KB; 1000 x 793 pixels; 85 x 67 mm (print at 300 DPI); 265 x 210 mm (screen at 96 DPI); |
| Average Rating: | Not yet rated |
| Categories: | Best of BGS Images/ Images from the archives, Geoscience subjects/ Archaeology and early history, Geoscience subjects/ Landforms, weathering/ Relict boulders and deposits, sarsens |
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