Ancient history is full of mass doingweird stuff , which is expert news program for archaeologist on the hunt forinteresting artifactsor the remnant ofstrange archaic rituals . Every now and then , though , researchers dig out something up that leaves them utterly bamboozled , as seems to be the case for a team of scientists in England .
While excavating a website called Nesscliffe Hill last summer , the investigator come across an strange design carved into a blood-red sandstone . Having dubbed their find the Nessglyph , the team are now necessitate the public for suggestion as to what it might represent .
Consisting of a hollowed - out circle and a few straight lines , the etch seems to have been created using some sorting of alloy tool , although the archeologist who find out the relic have no idea who made it or why . All that is currently acknowledge is that Nesscliffe Hill was once the site of anIron Agehillfort and was afterward occupied by the Romans .
The mysterious Nessglyph. Image credit: Shropshire Council
“ The rotary loving cup shape and the square personal credit line are indicative of two different types of engineering science , grind and carving , ” explained Dr Paul Reilly from the University of Southampton in astatement . After render to the site to resume dig that started in 2019 , Reilly and his fellow worker Dr Gary Lock from the University of Oxford came across the glyph in a ditch that had to begin with been explored in the 1950s and later backfilled .
“ We can speculate that the Nessglyph is figural , with the cupmark being the head , ” said Reilly . “ It has two long horn and two small horn , a central body seam and two arms , one keep back up and the other down , the upward one showing a possible hand holding a pipe or a weapon . ”
However , since launch an appeal for suggestions , the team have been flood with alternative interpretations from people all over the creation . Speaking to theBBC , Reilly revealed that “ multitude have suggested that we involve to spread out the stone and it could represent a pregnant woman , others have hint the character is holding a weapon , others , a tool of some verbal description , and even that it may be an Sagittarius . ”
“ It is also deserving mention that Nesscliffe lies within the putative territory of the Cornovii , a name that has been suggested to reference to the ‘ horned ones ’ . There is the hypothesis of a connectedness to a horn divinity cult in the Roman USA as limn at several military internet site across Britain , ” he said .
With the riddle still unsolved , the archaeologists encourage anyone with information , knowledge , or even just a hunch as to what the Nessglyph might symbolise to get in touch .
If you think you ’ve cracked the whodunit then send your thoughts to Paul Reilly at p.reilly@soton.ac.uk or Gary Lock at gary.lock@arch.ox.ac.uk .
