> > I got a postcard from my sister who is traveling in England. It shows four horses made of white stones surrounded by grass. I have seen pictures of this ancient(?)artwork, and I know there is a story behind it, but can't remember the details. Can someone fill me in?
> >
> > I can just make out the words Westbury, Pewsey, Uffington and Cherhill, on the back of the card. I assume those are place names, but I haven't gotten to the map yet.
> > Howard
>
> The horses are cut out of the turf, to reveal the chalk underneath. They need to be recut about once every 7 years to stop the grass growing back over them.
>
> Only one of them is truely ancient - The White Horse of Uffington was first cut around 1000 BC, with the others probably dating back no earlier than 1000 AD, and possibly as recently as 1700AD.
>
> The link below should tell you more than you ever wanted to know...
>
> wintermute

Wow! That was quick. No wonder I'm too lazy to search things out myself.

I guess those will have to be on my "must see" list for my next trip to England. I was particularly interested in that optical stimulated luminescence dating (OSL) process. I understand carbon dating, but there are a lot of others that I know very little about.

I wonder if the white chalk at those sites is from the same strata as the white cliffs near Dover? I guess I need to look at the map and see how close they are to the coast.

Thanks for the info.
Howard