The cutting of huge figures or 'geoglyphs' into the earth of English hillsides has taken place for more than 3,000 years. There are 56 hill figures scattered around England, with the vast majority on the chalk downlands of the country's southern counties. The figures include giants, horses, crosses and regimental badges. Although the majority of these geoglyphs date within the last 300 years or so, there are one or two that are much older.

在英国山坡上切割巨型图案或“地画“已有3000多年历史。 在英格兰，散布着56处山丘图案，其中绝大多数分布在英国南部各郡的白垩丘陵地上。这些图形包括巨人、马、十字架和军团徽章。 这些地画的大多年代在近300年左右，但也有一两个年代更久远。

The most famous of these figures is perhaps also the most mysterious – the Uffington White Horse in Oxfordshire. The White Horse has recently been re-dated and shown to be even older than its previously assigned ancient pre-Roman Iron Age* date. More controversial is the date of the enigmatic Long Man of Wilmington in Sussex. While many historians are convinced the figure is prehistoric, others believe that it was the work of an artistic monk from a nearby priory and was created between the 11th and 15th centuries.

这些地画中最有名，也许也最神秘的，是坐落在牛津郡的“乌芬顿白马”。 最近，白马被重新追溯历史日期，结果表明其年代甚至比之前认定的前罗马铁器时代还要早。 对于苏塞克斯郡的威尔明顿神秘长人(也称“朗曼”)，日期则更有争议。许多历史学家相信这个地画是史前的，但也有人认为它创作于11世纪至15世纪之间，出自附近小修道院某个擅长艺术的修道士之手。

The method of cutting these huge figures was simply to remove the overlying grass to reveal the gleaming white chalk below. However, the grass would soon grow over the geoglyph again unless it was regularly cleaned or scoured by a fairly large team of people. One reason that the vast majority of hill figures have disappeared is that when the traditions associated with the figures faded, people no longer bothered or remembered to clear away the grass to expose the chalk outline. Furthermore, over hundreds of years the outlines would sometimes change due to people not always cutting in exactly the same place, thus creating a different shape to the original geoglyph. The fact that any ancient hill figures survive at all in England today is testament to the strength and continuity of local customs and beliefs which, in one case at least, must stretch back over millennia.

切割这些巨大图形的方法就是简单地移除上面的草，露出下面闪光的白垩(注:石灰岩的一种，主要成分是碳酸钙，是由古生物的残骸积聚形成的)。然而，除非有相当多的人定期清理或擦洗，否则草很快就会重新长出来盖住地画。绝大多数山丘图案消失的原因之一是，当与这些图案相关的传统逐渐消失时，人们就不再费心，不再记得清除那些草以露出白垩轮廓了。 此外，在数百年的时间里，由于人们并非总在完全相同的地方切割，地画的轮廓有时会变化，从而会出现与原始地画不同的形状。 现在，在英格兰存留下来的所有古老的山丘图案，都能证明当地习俗和信仰具有力量和延续性，至少有一个可以追溯到几千年前。

The Uffington White Horse is a unique, stylised representation of a horse consisting of a long, sleek back, thin disjointed legs, a streaming tail, and a bird-like beaked head. The elegant creature almost melts into the landscape. The horse is situated 2.5 km from Uffington village on a steep slope close to the Late Bronze Age* (c. 7th century BCE) hillfort of Uffington Castle and below the Ridgeway, a long-distance Neolithic** track.

乌芬顿白马地画独特且别具风格地描绘了一匹马这匹马背长而圆滑，腿细且不相连，尾巴似在飘动，头似鸟有喙。 这一优雅精致的动物几乎与风景融为一体。白马地画距离乌芬顿村2.5公里的一个陡峭斜坡上，靠近青铜时代晚期(公元前7世纪)的乌芬顿山堡，处于在山脊路(一条新石器时代的长路)下面。[山脊路:尤指英格兰南部威尔特郡和伯克郡里奇韦史前小道]。

The Uffington Horse is also surrounded by Bronze Age burial mounds. It is not far from the Bronze Age cemetery of Lambourn Seven Barrows, which consists of more than 30 well-preserved burial mounds. The carving has been placed in such a way as to make it extremely difficult to see from close quarters, and like many geoglyphs is best appreciated from the air. Nevertheless, there are certain areas of the Vale of the White Horse, the valley containing and named after the enigmatic creature, from which an adequate impression may be gained. Indeed on a clear day the carving can be seen from up to 30 km away.

乌芬顿马图周围也有铜器时代的坟堆。它离兰伯恩Seven Barrows小镇的青铜时代墓地不远，那里有30多个保存完好的坟堆。这个自马地画的陈列方式使得它很难近距离观看，就像许多地画一样，最好从空中欣赏。 然而，还有白马谷的某些地区，这些山谷包含神秘生物(地画)并以此命名，从那里也可以对地画获得足够的印象。 事实上，在晴朗的日子里，30公里外都能看到雕刻。

The earliest evidence of a horse at Uffington is from the 1070s CE when 'White Horse Hill' is mentioned in documents from the nearby Abbey of Abingdon, and the first reference to the horse itself is soon after, in 1190 CE. However, the carving is believed to date back much further than that. Due to the similarity of the Uffington White Horse to the stylised depictions of horses on 1st century BCE coins, it had been thought that the creature must also date to that period.

乌芬顿马的最早证据是在公元10世纪70年代，当时附近阿宾顿修道院的文件中提到了“白马山”，而第-次提到乌芬顿马本身的是在不久后的公元1190年。然而，这一雕刻被认为可以追溯到比这更早的时候。 由于乌芬顿白马与公元前1世纪硬币上对马别具风格的描述相似，人们认为这地画一定也可以追溯到那个时期。

However, in 1995 Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) testing was carried out by the Oxford Archaeological Unit on soil from two of the lower layers of the horse's body, and from another cut near the base. The result was a date for the horse's construction somewhere between 1400 and 600 BCE – in other words, it had a Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age origin.

然而，在1995年，牛津考古小组对马身体下方的两层土壤和接近底部附近的另一个切口的土壤进行了光释光(OSL)测试。 结果表明，这个地画大约可以追溯到在公元前1400年到600年之间--换句话说，它起源于青铜时代晚期或铁器时代早期。

The latter end of this date range would tie the carving of the horse in with occupation of the nearby Uffington hillfort, indicating that it may represent a tribal emblem marking the land of the inhabitants of the hillfort. Alternatively, the carving may have been carried out during a Bronze or Iron Age ritual. Some researchers see the horse as representing the Celtic*** horse goddess Epona, who was worshipped as a protector of horses, and for her associations with fertility. However, the cult of Epona was not imported from Gaul (France) until around the first century CE. This date is at least six centuries after the Uffington Horse was probably carved. Nevertheless, the horse had great ritual and economic significance during the Bronze and Iron Ages, as attested by its depictions on jewellery and other metal objects. It is possible that the carving represents a goddess in native mythology, such as Rhiannon, described in later Welsh mythology as a beautiful woman dressed in gold and riding a white horse.

铁器时代早期这个时间将白马地画雕刻与附近乌芬顿山堡的占领联系在了一起，表明它可能代表了一个标记山堡居民士地的部落标志。 或者，地画的雕刻可能是在青铜或铁器时代的仪式中进行的。一些研究人员认为这匹马代表了凯尔特的女马神艾波娜，她被敬奉为马的保护者，也因她和生育相关为收到供奉。 但对爱波娜的崇拜直到大约公元一世纪才从高卢(法国)引进。 这个时间距乌芬顿马地画已经被雕刻过去了至少6个世纪。然而，在青铜和铁器时代，这个自马地画具有巨大的仪式意义和经济意义，这可以从珠宝和其他金属物上的对马的刻画中得到证明。 雕刻品可能代表了当地神话中的女神，比如里安农，在后来的威尔士神话中被描述为一位身着金装、骑着白马的美丽女子。

The fact that geoglyphs can disappear easily, along with their associated rituals and meaning, indicates that they were never intended to be anything more than temporary gestures. But this does not lessen their importance. These giant carvings are a fascinating glimpse into the minds of their creators and how they viewed the landscape in which they lived.

地画可以很容易地消失，与之相关的仪式和意义也一样(容易消失)，这表明它们从来都只是暂时性的表征图案。 但这并不会降低它们的重要性。这些巨大的雕刻很好地让我们看到了其创造者的思想，也能让人们了解他们如何看待他们生活的环境。

*Iron Age: a period (in Britain 800 BCE – 43 CE) that is characterised by the use of iron tools

*铁器时代：一个时期（在英国为公元前800年至公元43年），以使用铁制工具为特征。

*Bronze Age: a period (in Britain c. 2,500 BCE – 800 BCE) that is characterised by the development of bronze tools

*Bronze Age: a period (in Britain c. 2,500 BCE – 800 BCE) that is characterised by the development of bronze tools

**Neolithic: a period (in Britain c. 4,000 BCE – c. 2,500 BCE) that is significant for the spread of agricultural practices, and the use of stone tools

*青铜时代：一个时期（在英国约为公元前2500年至公元前800年），以青铜工具的发展为特征。

***Celtic: an ancient people who migrated from Europe to Britain before the Romans

***凯尔特人：一个古老的民族，他们在罗马人之前从欧洲迁移到不列颠。