Wayland's Smithy
Type:	Neolithic long barrow and chamber tomb
Country:	England
County:	Oxfordshire
Nearest Village:	Uffington
OS grid reference:	SU281854
Coordinates:	51°34′0.28″N, 1°35′37.76″WCoordinates: 51°34′0.28″N, 1°35′37.76″W

Wayland's Smithy is a Neolithic long barrow and chamber tomb site located near the Uffington White Horse and Uffington Castle in the English county of Oxfordshire. The later mound was 185 feet long and 43 feet wide at the south end. Its present appearance is the result of restoration following excavations undertaken by Stuart Piggott and Richard Atkinson in 1962-1963. They demonstrated that the site had been built in two different phases, a timber chambered oval barrow built around 3700 BC and the second stone chambered long barrow in around 3400 BC. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1704x2272, 2742 KB) Waylands Smithy. ... An array of Neolithic artifacts, including bracelets, axe heads, chisels, and polishing tools. ... A long barrow is a prehistoric monument dating to the Neolithic period. ... A chamber tomb is a tomb for burial used in many different cultures. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the  United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total 130... A county is generally a sub-unit of regional self-government within a sovereign jurisdiction. ... Oxfordshire (abbreviated Oxon, from the Latinised form Oxonia) is a county in the South East of England, bordering on Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire. ... Uffington is a village in Oxfordshire, close to one of the United Kingdoms best-known archaeological sites, the Uffington White Horse. ... The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using latitude or longitude. ... This article is about longitude and latitude; see also UTM coordinate system Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (vertically) and longitude (horizontally); large version (pdf) The geographic (earth-mapping) coordinate system expresses every horizontal position on Earth by two of the three coordinates of a spherical coordinate system which... Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ... An array of Neolithic artifacts, including bracelets, axe heads, chisels, and polishing tools. ... A long barrow is a prehistoric monument dating to the Neolithic period. ... A chamber tomb is a tomb for burial used in many different cultures. ... As seen from an altitude of 2000 feet, from the cockpit of a glider The Uffington White Horse is a highly stylised hillfigure, 374 feet (110m) long, cut out of the turf on the upper slopes of Uffington Castle, an Iron Age hill fort near The Ridgeway, in southern England. ... Uffington Castle is all that remains of an early iron Age hill fort in Oxfordshire, England. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the  United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total 130... Oxfordshire (abbreviated Oxon, from the Latinised form Oxonia) is a county in the South East of England, bordering on Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire. ... Stuart Ernest Piggott (28 May 1910–23 September 1996) CBE, was a British archaeologist most well known for his work on prehistoric Wessex. ... Richard John Copland Atkinson (1920–1994) was a British prehistorian and archaeologist. ... Year 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... (38th century BC - 37th century BC - 36th century BC - other centuries) (5th millennium BC - 4th millennium BC - 3rd millennium BC) Events Start of Naqada culture in Egypt Significant persons Inventions, discoveries, introductions Categories: Centuries | 37th century BC | 4th millennium BC ... (35th century BC - 34th century BC - 33rd century BC - other centuries) (5th millennium BC - 4th millennium BC - 3rd millennium BC) Events Stage IIIa2 of the Naqada culture in Egypt (dated in 1998) Significant persons Ur-Nina first king of Lagash in Mesopotamia (c. ...

The wooden mortuary house mainly consisted of a paved stone floor with two large posts at either end. A single crouched burial had been placed at one end and the mostly disarticulated remains of a further fourteen individuals were scattered in front of it. Analysis of these remains indicated that they had been subjected to excarnation prior to burial and deposited in possibly four different phases. Postholes at one end have been interpreted as supporting a timber facade. The whole monument was covered by an earth barrow with material excavated from two flanking ditches and measured around 20m in length. In archaeology and anthropology the term excarnation refers to the burial practice adopted by some societies of removing the flesh of the dead, leaving only the bones. ... In archaeology a posthole is a cut feature used to hold a surface timber or stone. ...

The later stone tomb consists of two opposing transept chambers and terminal chamber, along with the longer entrance chamber, this gives the burial area a cruciform appearance in plan. It is classified by archaeologists as one of the Severn-Cotswold tombs. The large trapezoidal earth barrow erected over it was revetted with a stone kerb and its material was again excavated from two large flanking ditches. Excavation in 1919 revealed the burials of seven adults and one child. Archaeology or sometimes in American English archeology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains, including architecture, artefacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ... Severn-Cotswold (or Cotswold-Severn) is a name given to a type of Megalithic chamber tomb built by Neolithic peoples in Wales and south west England around 3500 BC. They consist of precisely-built, long trapezoid earth mounds covering a burial chamber. ... A tumulus (plural tumuli or tumuluses, from the Latin word for mound or small hill) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. ... // In archaeology, a forecourt is the name given to the area in front of certain types of chamber tomb. ... Year 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ...

The site is important as it illustrates the transition from timber chambered barrows to stone chamber tombs over a period which may have been as short as 50 years.

Wayland's Smithy is one of many prehistoric sites associated with Wayland or Wolund, the Norse and Saxon god of blacksmithing. The name was seemingly applied to the site by the Saxon invaders, who reached the area some four thousand years after Wayland's Smithy was built. According to legend, a traveller whose horse has lost a shoe can leave the animal and the smallest silver coin (a groat) on the capstone at Wayland's Smithy. When he returns next morning he will find that his horse has been re-shod and the money gone. It is conjectured that the invisible smith may have been linked to this site for many centuries before the Saxons recognized him as Wayland. The Ancient Britons may have been accustomed to making votive offerings to a local god. Weyland (also spelled Wayland, Weland and Watlende) is the mythical smith-god of the Saxon immigrants into Britain. ... Norse or Scandinavian mythology comprises the pre-Christian religion, beliefs and legends of the Scandinavian people, including those who settled on Iceland, where the written sources for Norse mythology were assembled. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Binomial name Equus caballus Linnaeus, 1758 The horse (Equus caballus, sometimes seen as a subspecies of the Wild Horse, Equus ferus caballus) is a large odd-toed ungulate mammal, one of ten modern species of the genus Equus. ... Groat is the traditional name of an English silver coin worth four English pennies, and also a Scottish coin originally worth fourpence, with later issues being valued at eightpence and a shilling. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Weyland (also spelled Wayland, Weland and Watlende) is the mythical smith-god of the Saxon immigrants into Britain. ... The term Briton may have the following meanings: in a historical context: an inhabitant of Great Britain in pre-Roman times a descendant of Britons during a later period (e. ...

In recent years, at this and other ancient sites, such as the West Kennet Long Barrow, offerings have been left in the form of flowers, nuts, grain, fruit, and feathers, presumably by visiting Neo-Pagans. View of the outside of West Kennet Long Barrow View of the inside of West Kennet Long Barrow The West Kennet Long Barrow is a Neolithic tomb or barrow, situated on a prominent chalk ridge, near Silbury Hill, one-and-a-half miles south of Avebury in Wiltshire. ... Neopaganism (sometimes Neo-Paganism, meaning New Paganism) is a heterogeneous group of religions which attempt to revive ancient, mainly European pre-Christian religions. ...

Views of Wayland's Smithy in a Different Light

Wayland's Smithy can be a very atmospheric place in different conditions, as some of the photos taken in late afternoon gloom show.

Wayland's Smithy, Tomb Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2272 × 1704 pixel, file size: 2. ...

Wayland's Smithy in gloom, Winter 1991 Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 541 pixelsFull resolution (854 × 578 pixel, file size: 127 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Waylands Smithy winter 1991 photo - Cas Liber File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old...

Wayland's Smithy in gloom, Winter 1991 Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 537 pixelsFull resolution (869 × 583 pixel, file size: 93 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Waylands Smithy winter 1991 photo - Cas Liber File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old...

See also

• Flibbertigibbet

Flibbertigibbet may refer to: A character in Anglo-Saxon mythology, apprentice to Wayland Smith. ...

External link

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Wayland's Smithy

• grid reference SU281854
• Plan of Wayland's Smithy
• Improvised music recorded inside chambers of Wayland's Smithy