You join us at lunch time on the last day. We are spaced round the table of out diesel driven portacabin. Nancy’s birthday flowers decorate the centre.
In a couple of hours we will lose it..so we are taking advantage of the facilities Did I mention the kettle. microwave and heater? The metal shutters are pulled back for a view of the fields.
There is a furious debate taking place. How is it that the toilet light comes on when the generator is off? One of those questions that will haunt us…
Like, who built the Cerne Abbas Giant and who does he represent?
He looks very good for the Roman god Hercules with a nobbly club raised above his head and an outstretched arm which could easily have once had a lion skin draped over it.
Rodney Castledon in 1989-89 and A.J, Clarke in 1979 both carried out geophysical surveys below the arm and found a shape that could be the silted up ditches which might be interpreted as a folded cloak or skin.
Then the Trendle… the square earthwork at the top of the hill above the Giant’s head (we need to geophys it).
That would be the right size and position for a temenos enclosure surrounding a square Romano-Celtic temple. We excavated one at Badbury Rings and this had a typical square sacred building or cella surrounded by a covered lean-to walkway or ambulatory. The position of the Trendle in the landscape reminds me of the temple at the National Trust’s Brean Down in Somerset.. placed high on the hill to command views across the landscape.
Nearby, are the earthworks of the Giant Hill Iron Age settlement…so a local population to tend and worship at the temple. They lay out an image of the cult figure on the steep slope below… for all to see.
It would be a typical situation…that a local celtic god would adopt the nearest appropriate classical god. There is the temple of Sulis (Celtic) Minerva (Roman) at Bath and here it may be Cernunnos/Hercules. Stone carvings of severed heads have been found in Dorset and a representation of Cernunnos would have him clutching a severed head…..apparently.
Up on the Giant…below the outstretched arm… there is an irregular head-sized mound and the geophysical survey revealed features …it was argued… that could be attributed to a head.
It is in just the right position for the Giant to hold below his hand.
Brian phoned me, he’s the historian who is kindly going over all the documentation he can find which might throw light on who made him and why.
‘Had I heard of the ‘Choice of Hercules’? ….No I hadn’t.
It’s the ancient story of Hercules at the crossroads. Does he choose pleasure or virtue?
It was a favourite topic for artists of the 17th and 18th centuries. The problem with this idea is that our Giant at Cerne is on his own. He should have a woman on either side of him to help him decide. He may well have decided already.
Brian said that he could have found us the inspirational owner who commissioned the Giant. He was known as The Great Freke. The third son of John Freke of Cerne Abbey, Thomas Freke became a politician with an independent point of view. He eventually became Sheriff of Dorset and inherited a large estate. He was the owner in 1694 when the 3s repair of the Giant was entered in the churchwardens accounts.
We just need the document that proves it….so many aspects and possibilities surrounding the Giant
Time to say goodbye to our luxury portacabin and climb the hill to the Giant one last time.
Ben the cameraman consoles us.
He has walked along the river to the village and brought back chocolate brownies.
Are the shops still open? Apparently they are.
We are going to meet the scientists.
Archaeology National Trust SW 
Hello, could I engage in some correspondence with you concerning the documentary history of the site? A paper I am writing touches upon you it and might be of interest.
Dear John
Please contact me by email martin.papworth@nationaltrust.org.uk I look forward to hearing from you.
With best wishes
Martin