Pages

Wednesday, 17 February 2010

Historic "Troy" turf mazes in England

http://www.megalithic.co.uk/a558/a312/gallery/Spirit_of_Place/thumb/TroyTownMaze.jpg
Watch historical troy
There are also similar labyrinths in northern Europe. Their paths are outlined with stones (unlike the turf-cut mazes of England, and those which formerly existed in Denmark). Stone-lined labyrinths such as these have proved slightly easier to date than turf mazes (which have to be cleaned out regularly to keep their paths clear, thus destroying any archaeological evidence). The stone labyrinths around the Baltic coast have been dated to between the 13th century and modern times, with a peak in the 16th and 17th centuries.
DSC05891.jpg classical labyrinth image by KarenSDR


There were once many hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of these labyrinths around the Baltic Sea, throughout Fennoscandia and the Baltic countries, and many of them still survive, particularly in remote areas. There are also similar stone labyrinths in the Kola Peninsula and coasts and islands of the White Sea, such as Stone labyrinths of Bolshoi Zayatsky Island. For some reason these northern labyrinths are almost all close to the sea. Some have suggested that they were markings of seafarers, perhaps even used for navigation. Many of the stone labyrinths around the Baltic coast of Sweden were built by fishermen during rough weather and were believed to entrap evil spirits, the "smågubbar" or "little people" who brought bad luck. The fishermen would walk to the centre of the labyrinth, enticing the spirits to follow them, and then run out and put to sea.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Several similar classical-type labyrinths in Scandinavia have names such as Trojaborg, Trojaburg, Trojborg, "Tröborg" and Trojienborg, which can all be translated as "City of Troy". (The place-name Trelleborg, which means "ring fort", has also been linked with labyrinths.) In Finland such labyrinths are called Jatulintarha ("giant's guard") or jättiläisen tie ("giant's road").

0 comments:

Post a Comment