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Ritual Landscapes
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nigelswift
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Re: Ritual Landscapes
Oct 09, 2005, 07:11
Blimey Bucky, those are some interesting thoughts.

I think if you're looking at a plan of analysis of views it's important to distinguish two different sorts of views - "significant" ones that come from the brain and "pretty" ones that come from the "heart".

Significant ones: There is/was on the net a Univ of Southampton research paper about "viewsheds" of many monuments in the Avebury area, covering alignments and intervisibility and attempting to draw conclusions about significant views and alignments based on cold statistics rather than individual judgement - which is what you're calling for I think (and I agree). As FW said, we're only just starting on this stuff and there is a huge research potential. Google Earth and some of the contour based mapping software that's coming out is going to open the whole field out.

Pretty ones: Is our modern appreciation of what's a pretty view the same as the Neolithic one? Another thread maybe, but I'd reckon it's a big YES (why wouldn't it be, it's in our nature not our nurture isn't it?) and if so it isn't hard for us to notice what a high proportion of, say, rock art panels have great views from them.
You were implying - "ah, but it's hard to tease out from modern house price statistics whether we really have an impulsion to build where there's a view as there are too many other possible motivations for wanting a house, ergo the same applies to neolithic building". As it happens, I spent a horrible number of years working on regression analysis of house prices to quantify the relative "value" of each factor pertaining to demand for houses and it's plain that "View" does command a measurable value. That being so, I'm inclined to believe the evidence of my own eyes at neolithic sites - the nice view I see is the nice view "they" saw and they and I view it with equal appreciation. To me, it's cross aeon communication - they're almost saying to me - wow, look at this! Whether that's just fanciful in an individual case can never be proved of course, but mass regression analysis, eventually, ought to be able to throw a huge shaft of light on it.
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Re: Ritual Landscapes (BuckyE)		 Replies:
Re: Ritual Landscapes (FourWinds)
Re: Ritual Landscapes (tuesday)
Re: Ritual Landscapes (BuckyE)
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