Editing Uffington White Horse (section)

==Representation and meaning==
It has long been debated whether the [[chalk]] figure was intended to represent a [[White horse (mythology)|horse]] or some other animal, such as a dog or a sabre-toothed cat. However, it has been called a horse since the 11th century at least. A [[cartulary]] of [[Abingdon Abbey]], compiled between 1072 and 1084, refers to "''mons albi equi''" at Uffington ("the White Horse Hill").<ref name="Plenderleath">{{cite book |first=W C|last=Plenderleath |author-link=William Plenderleath |year=1892 |title=The White Horses of the West of England |place=London |publisher=Allen & Storr |url=https://archive.org/stream/whitehorsesofwes00pleniala#page/8/mode/2up |page=8}}</ref>

[[File:The head of the White Horse of Uffington.jpg|left|thumb|The head of the horse, with sheep grazing around it.]]
[[Image:White Horse Hill & Dragon Hill c.jpg|thumb|White Horse Hill (left) and [[Dragon Hill, Uffington|Dragon Hill]] (right)]]
The horse is thought to represent a tribal symbol, perhaps connected with the builders of [[Uffington Castle]]. It is similar to horses depicted on [[Celtic coinage]], the currency of the pre-[[Roman Britain|Romano-British]] population, and on the [[Marlborough Bucket]] (an Iron Age burial bucket found in [[Marlborough, Wiltshire]]).{{efn|
...&nbsp;take a closer look at the sides of the bucket in order to identify Early Iron Age depictions of horses. They have similar features to the Uffington White Horse ... In the past, this resemblance has been used to date the Uffington Horse to the Iron Age. However, it was actually created much earlier, and does not compare exactly to Iron Age representations of horses, which are often much curvier in appearance.<ref>{{cite report |title=Early Iron Age horses on the Marlborough Bucket |type=exhibition label |publisher=[[Wiltshire Museum]] }}</ref>
}}

Another theory proposed by [[University of Southampton]] archaeologist [[Joshua Pollard]] points to the horse's alignment with the sun, particularly in midwinter when the sun appears to overtake the horse, to indicate that it was created as a depiction of a "[[Solar deity#Solar vessels and chariots|solar horse]]", reflecting mythological beliefs that the sun was carried across the sky on a horse or in a chariot.<ref name="powell"/>