Breast-shaped hill
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Breast-Shaped_Hill.jpg/220px-Breast-Shaped_Hill.jpg)
A breast-shaped hill is a hill in the shape of a breast. Some such hills are named "Pap", an archaic word for the breast or nipple of a woman. Such anthropomorphic geographic features are to be found in different places of the world and in some cultures they were revered as the attributes of the Mother Goddess, such as the Paps of Anu, named after Anu, an important female deity of pre-Christian Ireland.[1]
Overview[]
The name Mamucium that gave origin to the name of the city of Manchester is thought to derive from the Celtic language meaning "breast-shaped hill", referring to the sandstone bluff on which the fort stood; this later evolved into the name Manchester.[2][3]
Mostly breast-shaped hills are connected with local ancestral veneration of the breast as a symbol of fertility and well-being. It is not uncommon for very old archaeological sites to be located in or below such hills, as on Samson, Isles of Scilly, where there are large ancient burial grounds both on the North Hill and South Hill,[4][5] or Burrén and Burrena, Aragon, Spain, where two Iron Age Urnfield culture archaeological sites lie beneath the hills.[6]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b8/Hills_on_Mykonos.jpg/220px-Hills_on_Mykonos.jpg)
Also the myths surrounding these mountains are ancient and enduring and some have been recorded in the oral literature or written texts; for example, in an unspecified location in Asia, there was a mountain known as "Breast Mountain" with a cave in which the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma (Da Mo) spent a long time in meditation.[7]
Travelers and cartographers in colonial times often changed the ancestral names of such hills. The mountain known as "Didhol" or "Dithol", Woman's Breast by the Indigenous Australian people, was rechristened Pigeon House Mountain by Captain James Cook at the time of his exploration of Australia's eastern coast in 1770.[citation needed]
"Mamelon" (from French "nipple") is a French name for a breast-shaped hillock.[8] Fort Mamelon was a famous hillock fortified by the Russians and captured by the French as part of the Siege of Sevastopol during the Crimean War of the 1850s. The word "mamelon" is also used in volcanology to describe a particular rock formation of volcanic origin. The term was coined by the French explorer and naturalist Jean Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent.[9]
Africa[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/26/Virgins_Breast_Mountain_%283948855428%29.jpg/220px-Virgins_Breast_Mountain_%283948855428%29.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/MILBERT%281812%29_p121_-_%C3%8Ele-de-France%2C_Vue_d%27un_c%C3%AAt%C3%A9_des_Trois_Mamelles.jpg/220px-MILBERT%281812%29_p121_-_%C3%8Ele-de-France%2C_Vue_d%27un_c%C3%AAt%C3%A9_des_Trois_Mamelles.jpg)
- African Great Lakes
- Mount Elgon on the Uganda-Kenya border
- Sweet Sixteen, Matthews Range (Ldoinyo Lenkiyio), Laikipia district, Rift Valley Province, northern Kenya.[10]
- Horn of Africa
- Naasa Hablood in Somaliland
- Indian Ocean
- mountains in the west of Mauritius
- Mamelles Island, Seychelles
- Southern Africa
- Omatako Mountain south-west of Otjiwarongo in Namibia
- Three Sisters in the Northern Cape, South Africa
- West Africa
- Deux Mamelles, Pointe des Almadies, Cap-Vert, Senegal
Antarctica[]
- Una Peaks, long known as Una's Tits colloquially, at the entrance to the Lemaire Channel, Graham Land
- Nipple Peak, Palmer Archipelago, Graham Land
- Hemus Peak, Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands
Asia[]
- Cambodia
- , "Virtuous Woman's Breast Mountain", located close to Senmonorom, Senmonorom District, Mondulkiri Province, Cambodia.[11]
- China
- Dazeshan Mountain in Shandong Province
- Wuyi Mountain in Fujian Province
- Twin Breasts Peak in Tianzhu Mountain in Anhui Province
- Qianling Mausoleum near Xian, their shape is man-made
- Two Breast Peaks of Zhenfeng are two mountains in the Guizhou Province
- Middle East
- Tell Sader al-Arus (translation from Arabic: "Breast of the bride") is a mountain in the Golan Heights.
- Philippines
- Chocolate Hills, more than a thousand unusual geological formations in Bohol. A popular tourist destination named for their brown colour in the summer.
- , "Watery Breast", a pilgrimage site about four kilometres from Jagna, Bohol
- , among other breast-shaped hills in San Andrés, Catanduanes[12]
- Mount Susong Dalaga (literally "Maiden's Breasts Mountain") is the name of several peaks in the Philippines, including:
- Mount Susong Dalaga, Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro[13]
- Mount Susong Dalaga (also known as Breast Peak) in Tampakan, South Cotabato
- Susong Dalaga Peak of , Tanay, Rizal
- (also known as Mount Dalaga or Mount Susong Dalaga) of the Malepunyo Mountain Range in between the provinces of Batangas, Laguna, and Quezon
- Mt. Tagapo (also known as Mount Susong Dalaga), Talim Island, two huge conical hills that are the highest peaks of Talim Island.
- Musuan Peak, an active volcano in Maramag, Bukidnon
- Thailand
- (ดอยภูนม), Phayao Province, a breast-shaped hill rising in an area of grassland of the Phi Pan Nam Range.[14]
- Khao Nom (เขานม), was one of the former names of Khanom, a district of Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, due to the surrounding mountains.[15]
- , a hill at Huai Krachao, Kanchanaburi. 14°18′00″N 99°43′00″E / 14.30000°N 99.71667°E
- , (เขานมนาง), a hill north of Pak Phraek, Kanchanaburi. 14°05′00″N 99°34′00″E / 14.08333°N 99.56667°E
- Khao Nom Nang, a hill between Nong Pet and Chong Sadao, Kanchanaburi. 14°21′02″N 99°12′53″E / 14.35056°N 99.21472°E
- , an isolated hill in Khok Samae San, Lopburi. 15°19′00″N 100°51′00″E / 15.31667°N 100.85000°E
- , an isolated large hill in Khao Kala, Nakhon Sawan Province. 15°34′00″N 100°17′00″E / 15.56667°N 100.28333°E
- , the name of two hills west of Doeng Bang Nam Buat, Suphan Buri. 14°51′00″N 100°04′00″E / 14.85000°N 100.06667°E
- Khao Nom Sao (เขานมสาว), "female breast mountain", a mountain located in Ranong Province, Thailand.
- , a round hill east of Phet Kasem road in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province. 10°59′00″N 99°22′00″E / 10.98333°N 99.36667°E
- , a mountain in Chumphon Province. 09°46′00″N 98°43′01″E / 9.76667°N 98.71694°E
- , a hill in Phang Nga Province, part of a greater mountain system. 08°58′00″N 98°28′00″E / 8.96667°N 98.46667°E
- (เขานมวังก), a small hill just east of the main road at Phanom Wang, Khuan Khanun District, also known as Khao Phanom Wang, Phatthalung Province. 07°40′58″N 100°01′01″E / 7.68278°N 100.01694°E
- Ko Nom Sao (Thai: เกาะนมสาว, lit. female breast island) are twin islands located in the Phang Nga Bay,[16] Phang Nga Province, Thailand.
- in Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province.[17] 12°13′N 100°01′E / 12.217°N 100.017°E
- , an island off the shore in Chanthaburi Province.[18][19] 12°28′N 102°01′E / 12.467°N 102.017°E
Europe[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/The_western_Pap_from_the_eastern_Pap_-_geograph.org.uk_-_332014.jpg/220px-The_western_Pap_from_the_eastern_Pap_-_geograph.org.uk_-_332014.jpg)
- UK and Ireland
- Mumbles, the two islands (on one of which stands a lighthouse) off the southeast corner of the Gower peninsula, Swansea, Wales
- Beinn Chìochan in the Grampians, Scotland
- Bennachie in Aberdeenshire, Scotland
- North Berwick Law In East Lothian, Scotland
- in Knoydart, Scotland
- near Abergavenny, Wales
- Mount Keen in Aberdeenshire / Angus, Scotland
- A' Chioch in Ben More, Isle of Mull, Scotland
- Mam Sodhail, on the northern side of Glen Affric, some 30 kilometres east of Kyle of Lochalsh
- Mam Tor, near Castleton in the High Peak of Derbyshire, England.[20]
- Samson, Isles of Scilly
- Twmbarlwm near Risca, Wales
- Wittenham Clumps in Oxfordshire
- Shutlingsloe, Cheshire
- Paps or Maiden Paps are rounded, breastlike hills located mostly in Scotland:
- Paps of Anu, near Killarney, Ireland
- Paps of Fife in Scotland
- Paps of Jura, on the western side of the island of Jura, in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland
- Paps of Lothian in Scotland
- Maiden Paps, twin hills in Caithness, Scotland
- Maiden Paps, twin hills in the Kilpatrick Hills, Scotland
- Maiden Paps, twin hills south of Hawick in the Scottish Borders, Scotland
- Maiden Paps, another name for the Tunstall Hills near Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England
- Maiden's Pap, another name for Schiehallion, Perth and Kinross, Scotland
- Pap of Glencoe in the Scottish Highlands
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/Marens_Patter.jpg/220px-Marens_Patter.jpg)
- Denmark
- Marens Patter (Maren's Tits), a pair of twin hills that has functioned as a landmark for seafarers since the Bronze Ages.
- Germany
- Lilienstein in Saxon Switzerland, Germany
- Greece
- Breasts of Aphrodite in Mykonos, Greece
- Iceland
- Spain
- or "La Tetica", a 2,086 m (6,488 ft) high mountain in the Sierra de Los Filabres, Spain.[21]
- , Cantabria
- , La Alcarria, Guadalajara Province
- , Felanitx, Mallorca
- , another name for the 714 m (2343 ft) high Puig des Castellot, Escorca, Mallorca
- Turó de la Mamella, a mountain near Vacarisses, Catalonia
- Burrén and Burrena[22] near Fréscano, Aragon
North and Central America[]
- Canada
- Anû Kathâ Îpa in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta
- El Salvador
- San Vicente, also known as Chichontepec, the mountain of the two breasts in Nahuat, a stratovolcano in El Salvador
- Guadeloupe
- , Guadeloupe
- Haiti
- , Haiti
- Mexico
- , San Pedro Municipality, Coahuila
- or El Chichión in Costa Grande of Guerrero
- Nicaragua
- Ometepe, in Lake Nicaragua. Legend says that the island's volcanoes Maderas and Concepción formed from the breasts of Ometepetl, a daughter of the Niquirano tribe.[23]
- Panamá
- in Las Guabas
- Puerto Rico
- United States
- , in Acadia National Park of Maine.[24]
- Nippletop, in the Adirondack High Peaks of New York. During the later 19th century, it was euphemistically renamed "Dial Mountain", a name now officially applied to another nearby peak.
- Pilot Mountain, Pilot Mountain, North Carolina. Referenced many times on the Andy Griffith Show as Mt. Pilot. Andy spoke about a wonderful place to travel called "Pilot" by the locals.
- Pinnacle Mountain, Arkansas, near Maumelle. During the colonial and early American periods, the mountain was known as "Mamelle" mountain. "Mamelle" is a name commonly applied in the French-speaking parts of the world to a breast.[25]
- Rock Mary, Caddo County, Oklahoma
- Spanish Peaks, Colorado, named Huajatolla by the Ute Indians, meaning "two breasts".[26]
- Tetilla Peak, Caja del Rio, New Mexico. "Tetilla" is Spanish for "nipple".
- Teton Range. French-Canadian trappers named the Grand Teton Mountains around 1820. The distinctive peaks appeared as Les Trois Tétons (The Three Breasts) seen from the north[27]
- Twin Peaks, in San Francisco, California. When the Spanish conquistadors and settlers arrived at the beginning of the 18th century, they called the area "Los Pechos de la Chola" or "Breasts of the Indian Maiden" and devoted the area to ranching.[28] When San Francisco passed under American control during the 19th Century, it was renamed "Twin Peaks".
- Maggie's Peaks, just west of Lake Tahoe, California.
- Uncanoonuc Mountains, Goffstown, New Hampshire. From a Native American word for a woman's breasts.[29]
- Mollie's Nipple or Molly's Nipple is the name given to as many as seven peaks and some other geological features in Utah.[30]
- located in Pecos County, Texas west of Bakersfield.[31]
- Betsy Bell and Mary Gray, two adjacent hills in Staunton, Virginia.
Oceania[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/66/Saddlehill-nz.jpg/220px-Saddlehill-nz.jpg)
- Australia
- Pigeon House Mountain, New South Wales, Australia
- , Victoria, Australia
- New Zealand
- Saddle Hill, Dunedin, New Zealand
- Harbour Cone, Dunedin, New Zealand
South America[]
- Argentina
- , in Santa Cruz[32]
- in Neuquén.
- , in Tucumán.
- , in Nono, Córdoba.
- Bolivia
- in Potosí, Bolivia
- Chile
- , Futaleufú, Chile
- Tetas del Biobío, formed by Cerro Teta Norte and Cerro Teta Sur, located in the mouth of the Biobío River, Chile.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e3/CerroBatovi.jpg/220px-CerroBatovi.jpg)
- Colombia
- , La Guajira
- , El Carmen de Viboral, Antioquia
- , Serranía del Perijá, La Guajira
- Cuba
- , Baracoa, Cuba
- French Guiana
- , French Guiana
- Peru
- , Chiclayo Province, Peru
- Uruguay
- Cerro Batoví, in Tacuarembó. Batoví means breast of a virgin in the Guaraní language.[33]
- Cerro Pan de Azúcar (Sugarloaf Hill), in the Maldonado Department
- Venezuela
- Tetas de María Guevara, Isla Margarita, Venezuela
- , Trujillo State, Venezuela[34]
- , Tinaquillo, Cojedes, Venezuela
- , Barquisimeto, Venezuela
Gallery[]
Church tower at Pennant Melangell with the breast-shaped hill in the background
, Cantabria, Spain
Cerro Las Tetas, Salinas, Puerto Rico, as seen from the PR-52 northbound rest area at km 49.0
Hill by Lake Elgygytgyn, Chukotka, Russia
See also[]
- Maiden Paps (disambiguation)
- Mamelon (fort)
- Mamelon (volcanology)
- Mamucium
- Monadnock
- Phallic Rock, a rock in Arizona, United States
- St Melangell's Church, Pennant Melangell
- The Sleeping Lady
References[]
- ^ "The feminine in early Irish myth and legend". Scoilnet. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ^ Mills, A.D. (2003). A Dictionary of British Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-852758-6.
- ^ Hylton (2003), p. 6.
- ^ Samson, South Hill Chambered Cairn - The Megalithic Portal
- ^ Samson, North Hill - The Megalithic Portal
- ^ Burrén. Parque Arqueológico de la Primera Edad del Hierro en Frescano
- ^ "The Story of Bodhidharma". USA Shaolin Temple. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ^ Moureau, M.; Brace, G. (January 2008). Dictionnaire Du Petrole Et Autres Sources D'Energie: Anglais-Franncais, Francais-Anglais [Comprehensive Dictionary of Petroleum and Other Energy Sources]. Editions Technip. p. 936. ISBN 2-7108-0911-7. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ^ Decobecq, Dominique. "L'histoire du cratère Dolomieu (Piton de la Fournaise)" (in French). Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ^ Jackman, Brian (16 January 2009). "Africa: taking flight over Kenya's elephant country". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ^ Lay, Vicheka (2007). "Cambodian Resort "Virtuous Woman's Breast" Mountain". Free Online Library. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ^ "Virac (Capital Town)". Catanduanes Local Government. 2010. Archived from the original on 9 March 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ^ "Maiden's breast mountain, Occ. Mindoro (photo)". Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ^ "Doi Phu Nom picture". Archived from the original on 22 February 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
- ^ "The Legend of Khanom". Ice Family Tour. 2007. Archived from the original on 2 April 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ^ "Nom Sao Island (Ko Nom Sao)". Thailand.com. Archived from the original on 22 March 2006. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ^ Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park - Activities Archived 17 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Ko Nom Sao". Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
- ^ "Chanthaburi, Laem Sing Beach". Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
- ^ "The meaning of place names in Ashfield". Ashfield District Council. Retrieved 4 April 2011.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Tetica de Bacares, Sierra de los Filabres (2.080 m. altitud) (photo)". Panoramio. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ^ Burrén y Burrena, las "dos teticas" con historia en Fréscano Archived 2011-04-30 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Nicaragua. Ometepe Island. Between ancient legends and biodiversity". SouthWorld. February 2017.
- ^ "Bubble Mountains". Hike Bubble Mountains ME. July 2010. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
- ^ "Pinnacle Mountain State Park". The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture. 4 February 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ^ Evans, Frances P. (August 1958). "The Mystic Huajatolla". Trail and Timberline. Colorado Mountain Club: 103.
- ^ "Geology". Jackson Hole.com. 2011. Archived from the original on 8 February 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ^ sfgov.org Archived 14 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Uncanoonuc Mountains". Dan LaRochelle. Retrieved 9 April 2012.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Mollies Nipple Visit Utah". www.visitutah.com. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
- ^ Squawteat Peak archaeological site, The Handbook of Texas
- ^ Cerro Tres Tetas - Argentina
- ^ "Cerro Batoví" (in Spanish). Enciclopedia Geográfica del Uruguay. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ^ "Teta de Niquitao" (in Spanish). Cúspides Venezuela. 2008. Archived from the original on 19 March 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
External links[]
- Stuart McHardy, The Goddess in the Landscape of Scotland
- The Gododdin triangle by Philip Coppens
- Yakima Herald-Republic - State Changes Name of Hill (Squaw Tit) to Pushtay
- Mark Monmonier, From Squaw Tit to Whorehouse Meadow: How Maps Name, Claim, and Inflame
- Ethnography
- Vernacular geography
- Lists of mountains