Iron Gallery

Uffington White Horse, Oxfordshire, UK

The Uffington White Horse is a highly stylised prehistoric hill figure, 110 m long, formed from deep trenches filled with crushed white chalk. The figure has been shown to date back some 3, 000 years, to the Bronze Age, by means of optically stimulated luminescence dating carried out following archaeological investigations in 1994. These studies produced three dates ranging between 1400 and 600 BC. Iron Age coins that bear a representation comparable to the Uffington White Horse have been found, supporting the early dating of this artifact; counter suggestions that the figure was fashioned in the Anglo-Saxon period now seem untenable. Numerous other prominent prehistoric sites are located nearby, notably Wayland's Smithy long barrow. The Uffington is by far the oldest of the white horse figures in Britain, and is of an entirely different design from the others

© DAVID PARKER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Magnetic repulsion

Magnetic repulsion. The iron filings sprinkled between these two bar magnets reveal the shape of the repulsive magnetic field between them. The filings show the repulsion as field lines arcing away from the ends of the magnets. Bar magnets have a north and a south pole. Unlike poles attract each other, whereas like poles repel each other. The poles here are both marked north (N). The magnetised filings align in thin arcing lines due to the interactions between them, even though the magnetic field itself is continuous. For the field shape between attracting magnets, see image C010/6375

© CORDELIA MOLLOY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

The iron worker and King Solomon

The iron worker and King Solomon. Print showing a blacksmith sitting on a stool next to the throne of Solomon, thought to be a usurper, the crowd rushes forward to remove him. The man explains to Solomon that the temple could not have been built without tools made by blacksmiths (iron workers), whereupon Solomon grants him a seat of honor. Relates to quote from Isaiah, 54.16 and text from a Jewish legend. Date c1889

© Mary Evans Picture Library 2015 - https://copyrighthub.org/s0/hub1/creation/maryevans/MaryEvansPictureID/10602131