The Silbury Revelation

On my list of games to run is something set in Neolithic Britain, probably set on Orkney as there are so many fabulous sites within a few miles of each other (Maeshowe, Ring of Brodgar, Stones of Stenness, Ness of Brodgar—it’s an embarrassing feast of Neolithic riches).

The Ring of Brodgar (using Prisma)

This urge comes every now and again, normally around the time I visit any of these historic places. (I’ve been to Orkney twice, I hope to go again before too long.)

One thing I’ve struggled with is what Neolithic society was like. Obviously nobody knows what it was really like, but I’d like to present something that feels authentic. Unfortunately I’m not  good at doing real research, and after a week or so the urge passes and I get distracted by something that requires less effort.

But then I visit another stone circle and the idea returns.

Aside: It doesn’t help that I’m not sure what the game would be about. It would obviously be easy to do a monster-hunting game, but I’ve done that often enough that I’m not sure that’s where I want to go. I may instead start with something like Hillfolk, and see where that takes me.

Stonehenge, Avebury and Silbury Hill

So my thoughts about a Neolithic game returned to my mind recently after spending a few days in Wiltshire and visiting Stonehenge, Avebury, Long Kennet Barrow and Silbury Hill.

Yes-signed by the author!

Now, I haven’t done much reading about the Neolithic age. I’ve got a few of the English Heritage and Historic Scotland guidebooks, and I have the old Shell Guide to British Archaeology (and wow that’s out of date). But I don’t have an archaeology degree and I haven’t done the research. I find academic texts dull as ditchwater—I’m basically lazy and don’t want to put the effort in.

So I surprised myself when visiting Devizes recently by picking up (and enjoying) The Silbury Revelation by John Drews. (I will admit, the pretentious title did tickle me.)

Silbury Hill

To be honest, I’ve never found Silbury Hill terribly interesting. It’s a grassy hill, English Heritage doesn’t permit anyone to climb it, it doesn’t appear to contain any voids (so not a barrow or tomb), it almost collapsed a few years ago (thanks to incompetent archaeologists rather than faults with the original build), and it’s not astronomically aligned. It’s boring—but also a complete mystery.

Sibury Hill from the West Kennet Barrow layby

Except that John Drew, Avebury tour guide, has a theory…

Drew argues that Silbury Hill is an effigy: it’s the head of an Earth Mother hill figure, with Waden Hill as her body. It was designed to be viewed from the Windmill Hill enclosures (a Neolithic site older than and overlooking Avebury) and/or The Sanctuary, and/or Avebury itself (although the buildings in Avebury make that tricky to see). There’s a good illustration on this page of Silbury Hill and Waden Hill from the Sanctuary (and the Earth Mother hill figure shape is really obvious once it's been pointed out), but the text heads off in a different direction.

You can just see the Earth Mother hill figure in this screenshot taken from Google Streetview on Windmill Hill. Silbury Hill is to the right, with Waden Hill on the left. It's clearer if you click on the image or the link.

Drew argues that many Neolithic sites are aligned to hill figures and he lists several: Glastonbury Tor, Stonehenge (now hidden by trees), the Cheesewring and Hurlers on Bodmin Boor, Down Tor stone circle on Dartmoor (lots of hill figures on Dartmoor) and Maeshow on Orkney. Ah yes, Maeshow. More on that below.

One of the most famous hill figures is “sleeping beauty” at the Callenish Stones on Lewis (and another astonishing site). Sleeping beauty, a woman lying on her back, is formed by the hills in the distance. (She’s also known as the Old Woman of the Moors, and I found her hard to see—it’s a bit like seeing Jesus in burned toast.) And every 18-19 years there’s a lunar event where the moon rises from sleeping beauty’s breast and passes through the stones some hours later.

The Callenish Stones on Lewis

Anyway, back to Silbury Hill.

And even though we think we know what it’s for, why did they build it? (And when I say “we” I mean Drew. While he spins a good tale, I don’t know enough to say how convincing it is. It sounds convincing to me, but I’m a layman and don’t know any of the other arguments.)

So according to Drew, there’s a very similar hill figure not far from Avebury, consisting of Pecked and Woodborough Hill as viewed from Knap Hill (about 6km south of Avebury). And because the neighbours had a hill goddess, the owners of Avebury had to have one. “After all, the Kennet Valley people had the largest henge/circle complete with magnificent avenues, the largest hilltop causewayed enclosure and the largest long barrows in the land. Yet they did not have a truly striking landscape figure of their deity in keeping with the grandeur of their monuments. So they built one, and did their utmost to ensure it would last forever.”

So jealousy and arrogance. All very human.

Further research

Curiously, I can find no sign of Drew’s theory on the Internet.

Drew self-published The Silbury Revelation in 2015, but apart from references on Amazon and other bookshops, I can find no evidence that his theory has taken hold. I can’t even find anyone debunking it, and searches for hill figure results in the Cerne Abbas giant or chalk horses, which aren’t the hill figures I’m looking for.

So Drew’s theory doesn’t seem to have gained traction—I don’t know how much of that is because it’s complete poppycock, or Drew just doesn’t have much of an online presence. Or maybe my Google-fu isn’t as good as I think it is.

Aside: When does this pattern matching slide from respectable investigation into conspiracy craziness? There are clear similarities between finding hill figures in the landscape to searching for clues in an ARG (alternate reality game) or the QAnon conspiracy theory. These two articles (here and here) show how conspiracy theories are like games, and how satisfying it is to arrive at a theory that “fits the facts.” Is The Silbury Revelation any different?

Maeshow

Back to Maeshow and Neolithic Orkney.

Maeshowe is a famous Neolithic tomb, with a long passage facing the midwinter sunset and a large chamber with three smaller, slightly raised chambers off it. It’s famous for having lots of Viking graffiti, but for my purposes that doesn’t interest me.

Maeshowe plans from Orkneology.com

Maeshowe is strange for at least two reasons. First, it’s much more ornate than the other burial mounds and barrows in Orkney. Second, no actual burials have been found at Maeshowe (but maybe the Vikings cleared them out).

Like Silbury Hill, nobody knows what Maeshowe was for. But if I’m running set there then I need to know as the builders will be present.

In The Silbury Revelation, Drew argues that Maeshowe isn’t a tomb but is instead a temple for worshipping the death of the old year and the birth of the new. His two main arguments for this are that no burials have been found at Maeshowe, and that it has an Earth Mother hill figure of its own. That figure is formed by two hills on Hoy and is directly opposite Maeshowe’s entrance—the midwinter sun sets directly between them.

The Stones of Stennes-with Hoy's Earth Mother hill figure on the horizon

I have no idea if that was Maeshowe’s true purpose, but I think it’s interesting enough that I’ll adopt it for my game. There are plenty of other tombs and barrows nearby if I need to somewhere to bury someone important.

My thoughts on The Silbury Revelation

I enjoyed The Silbury Revelation. Drew tells and engaging story and while he presents what seems to be a compelling argument, I don’t have the expertise to argue otherwise. I think the ideas he presents have merit, but maybe if I knew more about it I would be casting it aside in disgust. But for now it suits my purpose.

My two key takeaways from The Silbury Revelation are:

• First, when I’m at a stone circle, I should look to see how it sits in the landscape. The stone circles are not positioned by chance, and are often precisely located (although they’re not always in their original location).
• Second, when I’m in a bookshop I should spend more time in the local history section. You never know what you will find…

And I want to visit more stone circles…