Stonenenge's Prehistoric Toy.

[Gaius Paulinus Maximus]

A toy hedgehog, found in a child's grave at Stonehenge, is proof of what we have always known - children have always loved to play.

The chalk figurine was probably a favourite possession of the three year old, and placed next to the child when they died in the late Bronze Age or early Iron Age, around 3,000 years ago.

 

Archaeologists who discovered the grave, where the child was laying on his or her side, believe the toy - perhaps placed there by a doting father - is the earliest known depiction of a hedgehog in British history.

 

http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/article...Stonehenge.html

[Nephele]

This bit from the article absolutely cracked me up:

 

Fay Vass, of the British Hedgehog Preservation Society, said: 'We are very excited to hear about this find. It shows humans have taken hedgehogs to their hearts for a very long time.'

 

"British Hedgehog Preservation Society"? What the fook?

 

-- Nephele

[Northern Neil]

"British Hedgehog Preservation Society"? What the fook?

 

-- Nephele

Indeed - Here in old blighty we feel sorry for our hedgehogs and take them very seriously, as many of them sadly end up squashed on our roads. We even build 'hedgehog tunnels' under busy highways to prevent this, and 'Hedgehog ladders' in cattlegrids so they can avoid getting trapped.

[Gaius Paulinus Maximus]

Don't you dare diss our hedgehogs Neph!!!!

 

I've got a pet hedgehog called Spike, I take him for walks everyday, throw sticks for him and everything.

 

A man's best friend is not a dog.....It's an hedgehog!!!!!

[Nephele]

Hey, I was just surprised to discover that y'all have a Hedgehog Preservation Society over there!

 

My man is British and, when I first met his family, his brothers and sisters took us out to a countryside pub near Nottingham (the Anchor in Gunthorpe). There was a lovely, grassy lawn outside the pub, down by the River Trent, and we all had our pints out there.

 

While sitting on the lawn, I was surprised to discover a hedgehog. I was even more surprised to find how easy it was to capture the little fellow. But, when I picked it up to examine it more closely (we don't have hedgehogs wandering freely in New York), my man's siblings all laughed and said that I must tell Mum (when we got back to the house) that I'd picked up a hedgehog.

 

I had no idea what was so funny, and thought my man's Mum would be charmed by my little story of discovering the hedgehog -- and I was rather pleased with myself that I'd managed to "catch" it (not that this was such a difficult task). So, when we got back to the house, I did tell Mum -- proudly -- about my hedgehog encounter. Mum visibly shuddered, and with great restraint ordered me to go have a bath before I could come to dinner. (Which cracked up everyone.)

 

Apparently, some folks over in England (like my man's Mum) are of the opinion that hedgehogs are little more than animated lice-bags.

 

-- Nephele

[Lost_Warrior]

Hedgehogs are cute!

 

Although that carving looks more like a guinea pig, to me.

 

Seriously, cool find.

[Chris08]

Is this a wind up? That just looks like a rabbit.

[Northern Neil]

Apparently, some folks over in England (like my man's Mum) are of the opinion that hedgehogs are little more than animated lice-bags.

 

-- Nephele

True enough, they carry LOTS of fleas! Some gardeners value them, because they eat snails and slugs etc. At one time in England people used to bake them in clay and eat them. Generally, they are regarded with affection in England and turn up a lot in children's literature. It is indeed a quaint and surprising thing that there is a preservation society, but then, they are in danger of extinction in some areas. Looking at the pic of this find, I must agree with LW - it looks very much like a guineapig, or even one of those big south American rodents rather than a hedgehog, and I wonder how the archeologists came to the conclusion that it definitely was a hedgehog.

[Chris08]

Generally, they are regarded with affection in England and turn up a lot in children's literature.

 

 

Neil! I just figured out how they named it a hedgehog

 

Its Sonic (The Hedgehog)! They finally found him, all these years I wasent quite convinced he existed and now I know the truth. The inspiration behind the sonic games ....... But true how do they know its a hedgehog, maybe if we saw the item in itself we would have a better idea of what it would look like, it may have small carvings along its back which we have'nt been given an image off.

 

-Chris

 

For those of you who dont know who sonic is : -

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_the_Hedgehog_(character)