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100-545: The Cerne Abbas Giant is a hill figure near the village of Cerne Abbas , in Dorset , England . It is currently owned by the National Trust , and listed as a scheduled monument of England. Measuring 55 metres (180 ft) in length, the hill figure depicts a bald, nude male with a prominent erection , holding his left hand out to the side and wielding a large club in his right hand. Like many other hill figures,

200-415: A Romano-British figure of Hercules (or some syncretisation of the two). The lack of earlier descriptions, along with information given to the 18th-century antiquarian John Hutchins , has led some scholars to conclude it dates from the 17th century. Conversely, recent optically stimulated luminescence testing has suggested an origin between the years 700  CE and 1110  CE , possibly close to

300-484: A Royal Anthropological Institute paper in 1926. Petrie says he made 220 measurements, and records slight grooves across the neck, and from the shoulders down to the armpits. He also notes a row of pits suggesting the place of the spine. He concludes that the giant is very different from the Long Man of Wilmington , and that minor grooves may have been added from having been repeatedly cleaned. In 1764, William Stukeley

400-469: A British settlement." Unlike the giant, the earthworks belong to Lord Digby , rather than the National Trust. Its purpose is unknown; the claim that it was the site of maypole dancing, made by the former village sexton in the late 19th century, was disputed by other villagers who located the maypole site elsewhere. It has been considered to be Roman, or perhaps an Iron-Age burial mound containing

500-488: A Greek god of fertility whose symbol was an exaggerated phallus. The son of Aphrodite and Dionysus , according to Homer and most accounts, he is the protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens, and male genitalia. His name is the origin of the medical term priapism . The city of Tyrnavos in Greece holds an annual Phallus festival , a traditional event celebrating the phallus on the first days of Lent . The phallus

600-484: A construction date between 700  CE and 1110  CE , suggesting the Giant was first cut in the late Anglo-Saxon period . As this date coincides with the founding of nearby Cerne Abbey, archaeologist Alison Sheridan speculated that it may have been a challenge to the new religion from the still-pagan local inhabitants, although other scholars have noted that early medieval monks could equally have been responsible for

700-532: A derivation from the Proto-Indo-European root * bʰel - "to inflate, swell". Compare with Old Norse (and modern Icelandic ) boli , " bull ", Old English bulluc , " bullock ", Greek φαλλή , " whale ". The Hohle phallus, a 28,000-year-old siltstone phallus discovered in the Hohle Fels cave and reassembled in 2005, is among the oldest phallic representations known. The phallus played

800-523: A following mainly among homosexual men in Canada and the United States. Semen is also treated with reverence, and its consumption is an act of worship. Semen is esteemed as sacred because of its divine life-giving power. The symbolic version of the phallus, a phallic symbol, is meant to represent male generative powers. According to Sigmund Freud 's theory of psychoanalysis , while males possess

900-493: A hill known as Giant Hill or Trendle Hill. Atop the hill is another landmark, the Iron Age earthwork known as the "Trendle" or "Frying Pan". The figure's outline is formed by trenches cut into the turf, about 0.6 metres (2 ft 0 in) deep, and filled-in with crushed chalk. In his right hand, the giant holds a knotted club or baton-style weapon measuring 37 metres (121 ft) in length, adding 11 metres (36 ft) to

1000-465: A late-1890s picture postcard . Lidar scans, conducted as part of the 2020 survey programme, have concluded that the phallus was added much later than the bulk of the figure, which was (probably) originally clothed. The hill figure is most commonly known as the "Cerne Abbas Giant" or the "Cerne Giant", the latter being preferred by the National Trust; English Heritage and Dorset County Council call it simply "the Giant". It has also been referred to as

1100-465: A leaf. Long's protest gained some support, including that of two bishops, and eventually reached the Home Office . The Home Office considered the protest to be in humour, though the chief constable responded to say the office could not act against a protected scheduled monument. A 1617 land survey of Cerne Abbas makes no mention of the giant, suggesting that it may not have been there at the time or

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1200-546: A local tradition the giant had only been cut in the previous century, he described and drew it as then having three roughly-cut letters between its feet, and over them the apparent Arabic numerals "748", features since lost; Hutchins' account was copied by several early 19th century guidebooks. A map referred to as the "1768 Survey Map of Cerne Abbas by Benjamin Pryce" is held at the Dorset History Centre, though

1300-539: A lost figure. Its existence is suggested by infrared photography . If it is a lost figure, its age is uncertain, and unlikely prehistoric in origin, as only one figure in the UK has been shown to be of this age, the Uffington White Horse . While presumed to be of prehistoric origin, surviving examples may have been created only within the last four hundred years. Of these giants only two survive: one near

1400-405: A penis may also be referred to as a phallus; however, such objects are more often referred to as being phallic (as in " phallic symbol "). Such symbols often represent fertility and cultural implications that are associated with the male sexual organ, as well as the male orgasm . The term is a loanword from Latin phallus , itself borrowed from Greek φαλλός ( phallos ), which is ultimately

1500-459: A penis, no one can possess the symbolic phallus. Jacques Lacan 's Ecrits: A Selection includes an essay titled The Signification of the Phallus in which sexual differentiation is represented in terms of the difference between "being" and "having" the phallus, which for Lacan is the transcendent signifier of desire. Men are positioned as men insofar as they wish to have the phallus. Women, on

1600-578: A phenomenon especially seen in England , where examples include the Cerne Abbas Giant , the Uffington White Horse , and the Long Man of Wilmington , as well as the "lost" carvings at Cambridge , Oxford and Plymouth Hoe . From the 18th century onwards, many further ones were added. Many figures long thought to be ancient have been found to be relatively recent when subjected to modern archaeological scrutiny, at least in their current form. Only

1700-479: A record at the National Archives notes there is evidence the map may date to the 1790s. By the following century the phallus was invariably omitted from depictions, either in line with the prevailing views on modesty at the time or as it had become grassed over; the figure seems to have become increasingly neglected and overgrown during the 19th century until in 1868 its owner Lord Rivers arranged to have

1800-553: A replica of the Giant), in 1997, the series   6 finale "Sofa" of the comedy series Men Behaving Badly , and the 2000 film Maybe Baby directed by Ben Elton . and even appeared in one of BBC One 'Balloon' idents between 1997 and 2002. The giant has also been depicted in multiple video games, including Pokémon Sword and Shield . In June 2023 the Oxford Cheese Company was criticised for using an image of

1900-434: A role in the cult of Osiris in ancient Egyptian religion . When Osiris' body was cut in 14 pieces, Set scattered them all over Egypt, and his wife Isis retrieved all of them except one, his penis, which a fish swallowed; Isis made him a wooden replacement. The phallus was a symbol of fertility, and the god Min was often depicted as ithyphallic, that is, with an erect penis. In traditional Greek mythology , Hermes ,

2000-403: A scenario of folk theatre, in which Kuker's role is interpreted by a man attired in a sheep or goat-pelt, wearing a horned mask and girded with a large wooden phallus. During the ritual, various physiological acts are interpreted, including the sexual act, as a symbol of the god's sacred marriage, while the symbolical wife, appearing pregnant, mimes the pains of giving birth. This ritual inaugurates

2100-439: A sediment analysis by the National Trust indicated an origin in the date range of 700 CE to 1100 CE, surprising historians who did not expect it to be medieval. In 2008, overgrowth forced a re-chalking of the giant, with 17 tonnes of new chalk being poured in and tamped down by hand. The Long Man of Wilmington is located on one of the steep slopes of Windover Hill, six miles (9.7 km) northwest of Eastbourne . The figure

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2200-440: Is ithyphallic   ... (5) The Giant is clavigerous. It bears a weapon in its right hand." A 1996 study found that some features have changed over time, concluding that the figure originally held a cloak over its extended left arm, and an object (possibly a severed head) beneath its left hand. The former presence of a cloak was corroborated in 2008, when a team of archaeologists (using special equipment) determined that part of

2300-408: Is 227 feet (69 m) tall and designed to look in proportion when viewed from below, and is shown holding two staves. The earliest record was made by the surveyor John Rowley in the year 1710. This drawing suggests that the original figure was a shadow or indentation in the grass, rather than the solid outline of a human figure. The staves were not depicted as a rake and scythe as was once thought, and

2400-468: Is a nearly-lost hill figure which can be seen with the aid of infrared photography . Now looking more like a small ear of corn or a strange weapon than a human figure, there is a legend suggesting that a giant called Gill was once cut on this same hill and that he was considered an adversary of the Long Man of Wilmington not far away. According to one story, the giant on Firle Beacon threw his hammer at

2500-505: Is about 1.5 metres (5 ft) in height, carved in polished black granite, and clearly represents an erect phallus, with a figure of the deity in relief superimposed down the shaft. Many of the earliest depictions of Shiva as a figure in human form are ithyphallic, for example, in coins of the Kushan Empire . Some figures up to about the 11th century AD have erect phalluses, although they have become increasingly rare. According to

2600-454: Is also a scheduled monument. The Giant is located just outside the small village of Cerne Abbas in Dorset, about 48 kilometres (30 mi) west of Bournemouth and 26 kilometres (16 mi) north of Weymouth . The figure depicts a naked man and is of colossal dimensions, being about 55 metres (180 ft) long and 51 metres (167 ft) across. It is cut into the steep, west-facing side of

2700-500: Is common, as well as more abstract symbols and, in the modern era, advertising brands. The reasons for the creation for the figures are varied and obscure. The Uffington Horse probably held political significance, since the figure dominates the valley below. It probably dates to the British Iron Age since coins have been found exhibiting the symbol. The Cerne Abbas Giant might have been a work of political satire likely of

2800-415: Is natural vegetation covering the figures. In the case of chalk figures, natural vegetation encroaches from the edges and can grow on soil washed onto the figure by rain. Water erosion can also be a problem on steep or gentle slopes, because rain can wash the chalk off the horse, or soil onto the horse. Larger horses are more susceptible to this. If chalk is washed off the horse, the horse gradually creeps down

2900-553: The Dorset Echo said a man claiming to be the "Purple Phantom" had painted the Giant's penis purple. It was reported that the man was from Fathers 4 Justice , but the group denied any involvement and said they did not know who did it. In 2012, pupils and members of the local community recreated the Olympic torch on the Giant, to mark the passing of the official torch in the run-up to the 2012 London Olympics. In November 2013,

3000-868: The Danjiri Matsuri ( だんじり祭 ) in Kishiwada , Osaka prefecture , the Kanamara Matsuri in Kawasaki , and the Hōnen Matsuri ( 豊年祭 , Harvest Festival) in Komaki , Aichi Prefecture , though historically phallus adoration was more widespread. Kuker is a divinity personifying fecundity, sometimes in Bulgaria and Serbia it is a plural divinity. In Bulgaria, a ritual spectacle of spring (a sort of carnival performed by Kukeri ) takes place after

3100-746: The Dorset Naturalists Trusts , the Department of the Environment , and local landowners. The information panel on-site was devised by the National Trust and Dorset County Council. Like several other chalk figures carved into the English countryside, the Cerne Abbas Giant is often thought of as an ancient creation but its written history cannot be traced back further than the late 17th century. Medieval sources refer to

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3200-670: The MP for Dorchester and a leader of the Presbyterian faction in Parliament, had been a key Parliamentarian supporter during the First English Civil War , he grew to personally despise Cromwell and attempted to have him impeached in 1644. Cromwell was sometimes mockingly referred to as "England's Hercules" by his enemies: under this interpretation, the club has been suggested to hint at Cromwell's military rule, and

3300-608: The Pagan Federation recalls that the Giant has been used to promote "condoms, jeans and bicycles". In 1998, pranksters made a pair of jeans out of plastic mesh with a 21-metre (69 ft) inside leg, and fitted them to the giant to publicise American jeans manufacturer Big Smith. In August 2002, the BLAC advertising agency, on behalf of the Family Planning Association , rolled a large latex sheet down

3400-640: The University of Reading suggests that the figure dates from the 16th or 17th century AD. Until the early 17th century large outline images of the two giants, perhaps Gog and Magog (or Goemagot and Corineus ) had for a long time been cut into the turf of Plymouth Hoe exposing the white limestone beneath. An early and explicit reference was made to them by Richard Carew in 1602. At one time these figures were periodically re-cut and cleaned but no trace of them remains today. Firle Corn in Firle , Sussex

3500-434: The phallōs was a symbol of the real penis in its erect imaginary form. Norbert Wiley states that Lacan's phallus is akin to Durkheim's mana . In Gender Trouble , Judith Butler explores Freud's and Lacan's discussions of the symbolic phallus by pointing out the connection between the phallus and the penis. They write, "The law requires conformity to its own notion of 'nature'. It gains its legitimacy through

3600-647: The "Old Man", and occasionally, in recent years, as the "Rude Man" of Cerne. Although the best view of the Giant is from the air, most tourist guides recommend a ground view from the "Giant's View" lay-by and car park off the A352. The surrounding area was developed in 1979 through a joint effort of the Dorset County Planning Department, the National Trust, the Nature Conservancy Council (now called Natural England ),

3700-474: The "Trendle", or "Frying Pan". Medieval writings refer to this location as "Trendle Hill", but make no mention of the giant, leading to the conclusion that it was probably only carved about 400 years ago. In contrast, the Uffington White Horse  – an unquestionably prehistoric hill figure on the Berkshire Downs  – was noticed and recorded by medieval authors. In 2021,

3800-455: The 'restoration' process distorted the position of the feet, an assertion backed up by several who had been familiar with the figure before 1874, and also by later resistivity surveys. It has also been suggested that it removed the Long Man's genitalia, though there is no historical or archaeological evidence which supports that claim. A wide range of dates of origin have been proposed for the Long Man, but more recent archaeological work done by

3900-518: The 10th-century date of the founding of nearby Cerne Abbey . Regardless of its age, the Cerne Abbas Giant has become an important part of local culture and folklore, which often associates it with fertility . It is one of England's best-known hill figures and is a visitor attraction in the region. The Cerne Giant is one of two major extant human hill figures in England, the other being the Long Man of Wilmington , near Wilmington, East Sussex , which

4000-429: The 13th and 14th centuries were found in soil samples examined. In 2020 the National Trust commissioned a further survey, using optically stimulated luminescence , and the results contradicted earlier research and theories. Samples from inside the deepest layers of the monument yielded a date range for construction of 700–1100  CE  – early medieval late Anglo-Saxon period. A 2024 study proposed that

4100-534: The 1789 edition of William Camden 's 1637 work Britannica , linked the Giant with a supposed minor Saxon deity named by Camden as "Hegle"; In the 1760s William Stukeley recorded that locals referred to the giant as "Helis". Stukeley was one of the first to hypothesize that "Helis" was a garbled form of "Hercules", a suggestion that has found more support; Pococke had earlier noted that "[the Giant] seems to be Hercules, or Strength and Fidelity". The close resemblance of

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4200-583: The 3,000 year-old Uffington White Horse as far back as the late 11th century. The earliest known written reference is a 4   November 1694 entry in the Churchwardens ' Accounts from St Mary's Church in Cerne Abbas, which reads "for repairing ye Giant, three shillings". In 1734, the Bishop of Bristol noted and inquired about the giant during a Canonical visitation to Cerne Abbas, while in 1738

4300-463: The Cerne Abbas Giant. In 1994, girls from Roedean School painted a 24-metre (79 ft) replica of the Giant on their playing field, the day before sports day. In 2003, pranksters created their own 23-metre (75 ft) version of the Giant on a hill in English Bicknor , Gloucestershire, but "wearing wellies, an ear of corn hanging from its mouth and a tankard of ale in its hand". In 2005,

4400-500: The Cerne Giant is formed by shallow trenches cut into the turf and backfilled with chalk rubble. The origin and age of the figure are unclear, and archaeological evidence suggests that parts of it have been lost, altered, or added, over time; the earliest written record dates to the late 17th century. Early antiquarians associated it, albeit on little evidence, with a Saxon deity , while other scholars sought to identify it with

4500-460: The Early Modern period. Wiltshire is a county with a large number of White Horses; 14 have been recorded. The figures are usually created by the cutting away of the top layer of relatively poor soil on suitable hillsides. This exposes the white chalk beneath, which contrasts well with the short green hill grass, and the image is clearly visible for a considerable distance. Although most of

4600-533: The Giant is killed by the locals by piercing its heart. Other folklore, first recorded in the Victorian era , associates the figure with fertility. According to folk belief, a woman who sleeps on the figure will be blessed with fecundity , and infertility may be cured through sexual intercourse on top of the figure, especially the phallus. In modern times the giant has been used for several publicity stunts and as an advertisement . For example, Ann Bryn-Evans of

4700-401: The Giant restored "as near as possible to his original condition". 18th century antiquarians were able to discover little about the figure's origin: Stukeley suggested that local people "know nothing more of [the Giant] than a traditionary account of its being a deity of the ancient Britons". Several other local traditions have, however, been recorded, including that the Giant was cut in 1539 at

4800-492: The Giant was given a red nose, to publicize the BBC's Comic Relief charity event. In 2011, English animators The Brothers McLeod produced a 15-second cartoon giving their take on what the Giant does when no one is watching. In 2015, the giant was used as a character in an online comic book published by Eco Comics; the giant's character appeared in various adventures accompanying a character based on St George , though his erect penis

4900-482: The Giant were the only indecent photographs that could be sent through the English Post Office . However, this feature may also have been changed over time; based on a review of historical depictions, the Giant's current large erection has been identified as the result of the merging of a circle (representing his navel ) with a different, smaller penis during a 1908 re-cut, as the navel still appeared on

5000-426: The Giant's phallus to promote condom use. As a publicity stunt for the opening of The Simpsons Movie on 16 July 2007, a figure of Homer Simpson clad in y-front underpants and brandishing a doughnut was outlined in water-based biodegradable paint to the left of the Cerne Abbas Giant. This act displeased local neopagans , who pledged to perform rain magic to wash the figure away. An August 2007 report, in

5100-568: The Indonesian chronicles of the Babad Tanah Jawi , Prince Puger gained the kingly power from God by ingesting semen from the phallus of the already-dead Sultan Amangkurat II of Mataram . The phallus is commonly depicted in its paintings . Wooden phalluses, with white ribbons hanging from the tip, are often hung above the doorways of houses to deter evil spirits. Khalid Nabi Cemetery ( Persian : گورستان خالد نبی, "Cemetery of

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5200-402: The National Trust carried out the first wildlife survey of the Cerne Abbas Giant, identifying wild flowers including the green-winged orchid , clustered bellflower and autumn gentian , which are uncommon in England. In 1921 Walter Long of Gillingham, Dorset , objected to the giant's nudity and conducted a campaign to either convert it to a simple nude, or to cover its supposed obscenity with

5300-410: The National Trust supported Movember , which raises awareness of prostate and testicular cancer. It authorised the temporary placement of a huge grass moustache on the giant. The moustache was 12 metres (39 ft) wide and 3 metres (10 ft) deep according to the designer but both the National Trust and the BBC reported it as being 11 by 2.7 metres (36.1 by 8.9 ft). In October 2020, to promote

5400-399: The National Trust, the grass is trimmed regularly and the giant is fully re-chalked every 25 years. Traditionally, the National Trust has relied on sheep from surrounding farms to graze the site. However, in 2008 a lack of sheep, coupled with a wet spring causing extra plant growth, forced a re-chalking of the giant, with 17 tonnes of new chalk being poured in and tamped down by hand. In 2006,

5500-490: The Pewsey White Horse at its centre. Phallus This is an accepted version of this page A phallus ( pl. : phalli or phalluses ) is a penis (especially when erect ), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history, a figure with an erect penis is described as ithyphallic . Any object that symbolically—or, more precisely, iconically—resembles

5600-607: The Prophet Khaled") is a cemetery in northeastern Iran 's Golestan province . Touristic visitors often have perceived the cylindrical shafts with the thicker top as depictions of male phalli. This gave rise to popular hypotheses about pre-Islamic fertility cults . The Mara Kannon Shrine ( 麻羅観音 ) in Nagato , Yamaguchi prefecture is one of many fertility shrines in Japan that still exist today. Also present in festivals such as

5700-576: The Uffington White Horse appears to retain a prehistoric shape, while the Cerne Abbas Giant may be prehistoric, Romano-British, or Early Modern. Nevertheless, these figures, and their possible lost companions, have been iconic in the English people's conception of their past. In England there are at least fifty landscape figures, the majority of which are in the south. The creation of hill figures has been practised since prehistory and can include human and animal forms. Cutting of horses

5800-468: The Wilmington giant and killed him, and that the figure on the hillside marks the place where his body fell. As a publicity stunt for the opening of The Simpsons Movie on 16 July 2007, a giant Homer Simpson brandishing a doughnut was outlined in water-based biodegradable paint to the left of the Cerne Abbas Giant. This act angered local neopagans , who pledged to perform "rain magic" to wash

5900-570: The age of the Giant, and whom it might represent: Proponents of a 17th-century origin suggest that the giant was cut around the time of the English Civil War by servants of Denzil Holles , then Lord of the Manor of Cerne Abbas. This theory originated in the 18th century account of John Hutchins, who noted in a letter of 1751 to the Dean of Exeter that the steward of the manor had told him

6000-468: The antiquarian Francis Wise mentioned the giant in a letter. The bishop's account, as well as subsequent observations such as those of William Stukeley , were discussed at meetings of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1764. Beginning in 1763 descriptions of the giant also began to appear in contemporary magazines, following a general increase in interest in "antiquities". The earliest known survey

6100-399: The binary and asymmetrical naturalization of bodies in which the phallus, though clearly not identical to the penis, deploys the penis as its naturalized instrument and sign". In Bodies that Matter , they further explore the possibilities for the phallus in their discussion of The Lesbian Phallus . If, as they note, Freud enumerates a set of analogies and substitutions that rhetorically affirm

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6200-537: The cult of Father Liber , who presided over the citizen's entry into political and sexual manhood, involved a phallus. The phallic deity Mutunus Tutunus promoted marital sex. A sacred phallus was among the objects considered vital to the security of the Roman state, which was in the keeping of the Vestal Virgins . Sexuality in ancient Rome has sometimes been characterized as " phallocentric ". Shiva , one of

6300-462: The figure "was a modern thing, cut out in Lord Hollis' time". In his History and antiquities of the county of Dorset , first published in 1774, Hutchins also suggested that Holles could perhaps have ordered the recutting of an existing figure dating from "beyond the memory of man". It has been speculated that Holles could have intended the figure as a parody of Oliver Cromwell : while Holles,

6400-565: The figure away. There are 16 known white horse hill figures in the UK, or 17 including the painted one at Cleadon Hills . The horses in Cockington Green, Georgia and Juárez are all based on the style of or direct copies of the Uffington White Horse. The white horses of Wiltshire, of which there are currently nine, have inspired other sculptures in the county. Julive Livsey's sculpture White Horse Pacified (1987) in Shaw, Swindon

6500-740: The figure depicts Hercules and was created c.  900 CE as a muster station for West Saxon armies to gather and that by the 11th-century, the figure was being reinterpreted as portraying Saint Eadwold , by the monks at the Abbey. North-east of the head of the giant is an escarpment called Trendle Hill, on which are some earthworks now called The Trendle or Frying Pan. It is a scheduled monument in its own right. Antiquarian John Hutchins wrote in 1872 that "These remains are of very interesting character, and of considerable extent. They consist of circular and other earthworks, lines of defensive ramparts, an avenue, shallow excavations, and other indications of

6600-433: The figure had been lost; the cloak might have been a depiction of an animal skin. In 1993 the National Trust gave the Giant a "nose job" after years of erosion had worn it away. The Giant sports a notably vertical erection, some 11 metres (36 feet) long (nearly the length of its head), along with a visible scrotum and testicles ; it has been called "Britain's most famous phallus ". One commentator noted that postcards of

6700-419: The figure referring to the horse. The Cerne Abbas Giant , also referred to as the "Rude Man" or the "Rude Giant", is a hill figure of a giant naked man 180 ft (55 m) high, 167 ft (51 m) wide. The figure is carved into the side of a steep hill, and is best viewed from the opposite side of the valley or from the air. The carving is formed by a trench 12 in (30 cm) wide, and about

6800-452: The figure. Other samples, however, gave later dates ranging up to 1560; one possible explanation is that the Giant may have first been cut in the late Saxon period, but then abandoned for several centuries. As the survey evidence also suggested that the giant's penis is of much later date than the rest of the figure, the National Trust has proposed that the feature could have been added by Holles as part of his parody of Cromwell when re-cutting

6900-652: The figures are of great age, many are relatively new. Devizes in Wiltshire created a large white horse for the 2000 Millennium celebrations and in October 2009 celebrated this with an aerial photo of volunteers making the figure 10 for an aerial photo. Figures must be maintained to remain visible, and local people often work regularly to restore or maintain a local landmark, though two cuttings of military badges at Sutton Mandeville , Wiltshire, are becoming lost. A lost map of Australia at Compton Chamberlayne , Wiltshire,

7000-416: The fundamental transferability of the phallus from the penis elsewhere, then any number of other things might come to stand in for the phallus. The phallus is often used for advertising pornography , as well as the sale of contraception . It has often been used in provocative practical jokes and has been the central focus of adult-audience performances. The phallus had a new set of art interpretations in

7100-432: The giant on one of its products without the distinctive phallus. In 1980, Devon artist Kenneth Evans-Loud planned to produce a companion 70-metre (230 ft) female figure on the opposite hill, featuring Marilyn Monroe in her iconic pose from the film The Seven Year Itch where her dress is blown by a subway grating. In 1989, Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry designed a set of motorbike leathers inspired by

7200-504: The giant's features to the attributes of the classical hero Hercules , usually portrayed naked and with a knotted club, have been strengthened by the more recent discovery of the "cloak", as Hercules was often depicted with the skin of the Nemean lion over his arm. Modern histories of the Cerne Giant have been published by Bettey (1981), Legg (1990), and Darvill et al. (1999). In recent times there have been three main theories concerning

7300-401: The god of boundaries and exchange (popularly the messenger god), is considered to be a phallic deity by association with representations of him on herms (pillars) featuring a phallus. There is no scholarly consensus on this depiction, and it would be speculation to consider Hermes a fertility god. Pan , son of Hermes , was often depicted as having an exaggerated erect phallus. Priapus is

7400-421: The head was a helmet shape. Sir William Borrow's drawing of 1766 shows the figure holding a rake and a scythe, both shorter than the staves. Before 1874, the Long Man's outline was only visible in certain light conditions as a different shade in the hillside grass, or after a light fall of snow. In that year an antiquarian marked out the outline with yellow bricks, later cemented together. It has been claimed that

7500-597: The heraldic bear of Appenzell , nearly leading to war between the two cantons. Figures of Kokopelli and Itzamna (as the Mayan tonsured maize god) in Pre-Columbian America often include phallic content. Additionally, over forty large monolithic sculptures ( Xkeptunich ) have been documented from Terminal Classic Maya sites, with most examples occurring in the Puuc region of Yucatán (Amrhein 2001). Uxmal has

7600-553: The hill on which the giant is located as Trendle Hill, in reference to the nearby Iron Age earthwork known as the Trendle. J. H. Bettey of the University of Bristol noted that none of the earlier sources for the area, including a detailed 1540s survey of the Cerne Abbey lands and a 1617 land survey by John Norden , refer to the giant, despite noting the Trendle and other landmarks. In contrast, there are documentary references to

7700-508: The labours of the fields ( ploughing , sowing ) and is carried out with the participation of numerous allegorical personages, among which are the Emperor and his entourage. In Switzerland , the heraldic bears in a coat of arms had to be painted with bright red penises , otherwise, they would have been mocked as being she-bears. In 1579, a calendar printed in St. Gallen omitted the genitals from

7800-483: The largest collection, with eleven sculptures now housed under a protective roof. The largest sculpture was recorded at Almuchil measuring more than 320 cm high with a diameter at the base of the shaft measuring 44 cm. St. Priapus Church (French: Église S. Priape ) is a North American new religion that centres on the worship of the phallus. Founded in the 1980s in Montreal, Quebec, by D. F. Cassidy, it has

7900-413: The length of the phallus, but did not find evidence (as rumoured) of a severed head, horns, or symbols between the feet. In July 2020, preliminary results of a National Trust survey of snail shells unearthed at the site suggested the hill figure is "medieval or later". Snails dating only from the Roman period (brought from France as food) were not found at the site, while species first found in England from

8000-404: The makers of Lynx deodorant created a 9.3 square metres (100.1 sq ft) advert on a field near Gatwick, featuring a copy of the Giant wearing underpants, frolicking with two scantily clad women. In 2006, artist Peter John Hardwick produced a painting "The Two Dancers with the Cerne Abbas Giant, with Apologies to Picasso " which is on display at Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. In 2009,

8100-706: The most widely worshiped male deities in Hinduism pantheon, is worshiped much more commonly in the form of the lingam . Evidence of the lingam in India dates back to prehistoric times. Although Lingam is not a mere phallic iconography, nor do the textual sources signify it as so, stone Lingams with several varieties are found to this date in many of the old temples and in museums in India and abroad, which are often more clearly phallic than later stylized lingams. The famous "man-size" Gudimallam Lingam in Andhra Pradesh

8200-464: The older figure. In 1920, the giant and the 4,000 square metres (0.99 acres) site where it stands were donated to the National Trust by its then land-owners, Alexander and George Pitt-Rivers , and it is now listed as a Scheduled Monument . During World War II the giant was camouflaged with brushwood by the Home Guard in order to prevent its use as a landmark for enemy aircraft. According to

8300-471: The other hand, wish to be the phallus. This difference between having and being explains some tragicomic aspects of sexual life. Once a woman becomes, in the realm of the signifier, the phallus the man wants, he ceases to want it because one cannot desire what one has, and the man may be drawn to other women. Similarly, though, for the woman, the gift of the phallus deprives the man of what he has and thereby diminishes her desire. It should be remembered that

8400-653: The phallus to mock his Puritanism . In 1967 Kenneth Carrdus proposed that the Holles referred to in Hutchins' account was Denzil Holles' son Francis , MP for Dorchester in 1679-80: he claimed that the figures and letters noted by Hutchins could be made to read "fh 1680", though was unable to find much other evidence to support this. The deepest archeological horizon of the Giant is 1 metre. Results of optically stimulated luminescence testing of samples from this deepest level were published in 2021. Some of these samples support

8500-461: The release of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm people added a 'mankini' and banners stating "Wear Mask." and "Save Live." on the site. The Cerne Abbas Giant has appeared in several films and TV programmes, including the title sequence of the 1986 British historical drama film Comrades , a 1996 episode of the Erotic Tales series "The Insatiable Mrs Kirsch", directed by Ken Russell (featuring

8600-468: The same depth, which has been cut through grass and earth into the underlying chalk . In his right hand the giant holds a knobbled club 120 ft (37 m) in length. Its history cannot be traced back further than the late 17th century, making an origin during the Celtic , Roman or even Early Medieval periods difficult to prove. Above and to the right of the Giant's head is an earthwork known as

8700-578: The slope; or if soil is washed onto the horse, it collects onto the lower edges and the horse gradually climbs up the slope. A solution is to provide drainage, either using run-off drains, as at Uffington White Horse, or a french ditch . Since hill figures must be maintained by the removal of regrown turf, only those that motivate the local populace to look after them survive. Surviving ancient figures all have an associated fair or ceremony that involves maintaining them. Unmaintained figures gradually fade away. Firle Corn at Firle Beacon , Sussex could be

8800-453: The son of Cuthred , King of Wessex, who died in battle in 748: Arabic numerals however did not come widely into use in England until the 15th century. Another 18th century writer dismissed it as "the amusement of idle people, and cut with little meaning, perhaps, as shepherds' boys strip off the turf on the Wiltshire plains." Richard Pococke , in a 1754 account, noted the figure was called "the Giant, and Hele", while Richard Gough , editor of

8900-529: The time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries as a "humiliating caricature" of Cerne Abbey's final abbot Thomas Corton, who amongst other offences was accused of fathering children with a mistress. Hutchins, noting the apparent figure "748" then visible between the Giant's feet, suggested that if this did not refer to the date of an earlier repair such as "1748", it could be a representation of Cenric,

9000-490: The tomb of the person represented by the giant. Whatever its origin, the giant has become an important part of the culture and folklore of Dorset. Some folk stories indicate that the image is an outline of the corpse of a real giant. One story says the giant came from Denmark leading an invasion of the coast, and was beheaded by the people of Cerne Abbas while he slept on the hillside. In 1808, Dorset poet William Holloway published his poem "The Giant of Trendle Hill", in which

9100-549: The total length of the figure. A line across the waist has been suggested to represent a belt. Writing in 1901 in the Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, Henry Colley March noted that: "The Cerne Giant presents five characteristics: (1) It is petrographic   ... It is, therefore, a rock carving   ... (2) It is colossal   ... (3) It is nude.   ... (4) It

9200-473: The village of Cerne Abbas , to the north of Dorchester , in Dorset and one at Wilmington, Long Man civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex . Examples located at Oxford , Cambridge , and on Plymouth Hoe can no longer be seen with the naked eye. The Osmington White Horse carries a rider ( King George III ) but is not considered an example of gigantotomy due to the name of

9300-644: The whiteish underlying soil, which is not itself dug. Geoglyph is the usual term for structures carved into or otherwise made from rock formations. In 1949, Morris Marples "half-humorously" coined the words "leucippotomy for the cutting of white horses and gigantotomy for the cutting of giants on rare occasions". Though neither word appears in the Oxford English Dictionary , the terms occasionally appear in print. Until recently, three methods were used to construct white hill figures. The biggest threat to white horses and other hill figures

9400-552: Was inspired by the white horses. In 2010, Charlotte Moreton created the steel sculpture White Horse for Solstice Park, Amesbury , taking influence from white horses. The Westbury White Horse is depicted on a roundabout and mosaic in the town. An 1872 sketch of the Cherhill White Horse was incorporated into an unofficial flag of Wiltshire . The Town Flag of Pewsey , registered in September 2014, features

9500-415: Was one of the first people to suggest that the giant resembled Hercules. In 1938, British archaeologist Stuart Piggott agreed, and suggested that, like Hercules, the giant should also be carrying a lion-skin. In 1979, a resistivity survey was carried out, and together with drill samples, confirmed the presence of the lion-skin. Another resistivity survey in 1995 also found evidence of a cloak and changes to

9600-558: Was perhaps overgrown. The first published survey appeared in the September 1763 issue of Royal Magazine , reprinted in the October 1763 issue of St James Chronicle , and also in the August 1764 edition of Gentleman's Magazine together with the first drawing that included measurements. Egyptologist and archaeology pioneer Sir Flinders Petrie surveyed the giant, probably during the First World War , and published his results in

9700-587: Was published in the Royal Magazine in September 1763. Derivative versions subsequently appeared in the October 1763 St James Chronicle , the July 1764 Gentleman's Magazine and the 1764 edition of The Annual Register . In the early 1770s the antiquarian John Hutchins reviewed various previous accounts in his book The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset , published posthumously in 1774. Noting

9800-648: Was removed from the artwork as many "outlets, particularly in the US, refuse any form of nudity in comic books". The giant's image has been reproduced on various souvenirs and local food produce labels, including for a range of beers made by the Cerne Abbas Brewery. In 2016, the BBC reported that the beer company's logo had been censored in the Houses of Parliament . Hill figure Hill figures cut in grass are

9900-467: Was restored in 2018. Similar pictures exist elsewhere in the world, notably the far larger Nazca Lines in Peru , which are on flat land but visible from hills in the area. However, these were made in desert terrain rather than on grassy hillsides, so have not become overgrown and thus have survived much longer without maintenance. The Nazca Lines were formed by removing loose stones from the lines to expose

10000-470: Was ubiquitous in ancient Roman culture , particularly in the form of the fascinum , a phallic charm. The ruins of Pompeii produced bronze wind chimes ( tintinnabula ) that featured the phallus, often in multiples, to ward off the evil eye and other malevolent influences. Statues of Priapus similarly guarded gardens. Roman boys wore the bulla , an amulet that contained a phallic charm until they formally came of age. According to Augustine of Hippo ,

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