Breast-shaped hill

A breast-shaped hill is a mountain 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]

A breast-shaped hill in the Western Sahara
There is an ancient Iberian archaeological site beneath the Mola Murada, one of the mountains of the Moles de Xert, Spain.

Overview
The Mamelon Central, formed by the Bory and Dolomieu craters, Piton de la Fournaise, on 28 brumaire 1801. Drawing by Jean-Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent.

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]

The "Breasts of Aphrodite" in Mykonos, Greece.

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.

"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
The thelarchic-shaped Naasa Hablood in Somaliland (1896)
View of one of the Trois Mamelles in Mauritius. Drawing from page 121 of Atlas by Jacques-Gérard Milbert.
African Great Lakes
Horn of Africa
Indian Ocean
Southern Africa
West Africa

Antarctica

Asia
Khao Nom Nang in Western Thailand.
Cambodia
China
  • Qianling Mausoleum near Xian, their shape is man-made
  • Rushan (meaning "Breast Mountain") is a mountain in Weihai, Shandong Province, China.
Middle East
  • Tell Sader al-Arus (translation from Arabic: "Breast of the bride") is a mountain in the Golan Heights.
Philippines
Chocolate Hills in Bohol, Philippines
  • Chocolate Hills, more than a thousand unusual geological formations in Bohol. A popular tourist destination named for their brown colour in the summer.
  • Ilihan Hill, "Watery Breast", a pilgrimage site about four kilometres from Jagna, Bohol
  • Kagmasuso, 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:
Thailand

Europe
Deganwy Castle
Paps of Anu. View of the western Pap from the eastern Pap, Ireland.
UK and Ireland
Marens Patter (literally "Maren's breasts") in Denmark.
Denmark
  • Marens Patter (Maren's Tits), a pair of twin hills that has functioned as a landmark for seafarers since the Bronze Ages.
Germany
Greece
Spain

North and Central America
Spanish Peaks, Colorado
Las Tetas de Cayey in Salinas, Puerto Rico
Canada
El Salvador
Guadeloupe
Haiti
  • Morne Deux Mamelles, Haiti
Mexico
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
Puerto Rico
The Bubbles on Jordan Pond in Acadia National Park
United States
  • Bubble Mountains, 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]
  • Squawteat Peak located in Pecos County, Texas west of Bakersfield.[31]
  • Betsy Bell and Mary Gray, two adjacent hills in Staunton, Virginia.

Oceania
Saddle Hill, as seen from Lookout Point, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Australia
New Zealand

South America
Argentina
Bolivia
Chile
Cerro Batoví, Tacuarembó, Uruguay.
Colombia
Cuba
French Guiana
Peru
Uruguay
Venezuela
  • Seal of La Colle-Saint-Michel former commune with two golden breast-shaped hills (Mamelons)
  • Church tower at Pennant Melangell with the breast-shaped hill in the background
  • Las Tetas de Lierganes, 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
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gollark: That's... not a good reason.
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See also

References
  1. "The feminine in early Irish myth and legend". Scoilnet. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  2. Mills, A.D. (2003). A Dictionary of British Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-852758-6.
  3. Hylton (2003), p. 6.
  4. Samson, South Hill Chambered Cairn - The Megalithic Portal
  5. Samson, North Hill - The Megalithic Portal
  6. Burrén. Parque Arqueológico de la Primera Edad del Hierro en Frescano
  7. "The Story of Bodhidharma". USA Shaolin Temple. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  8. 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.
  9. Decobecq, Dominique. "L'histoire du cratère Dolomieu (Piton de la Fournaise)" (in French). Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  10. Jackman, Brian (16 January 2009). "Africa: taking flight over Kenya's elephant country". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  11. Lay, Vicheka (2007). "Cambodian Resort "Virtuous Woman's Breast" Mountain". Free Online Library. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  12. "Virac (Capital Town)". Catanduanes Local Government. 2010. Archived from the original on 9 March 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  13. "Maiden's breast mountain, Occ. Mindoro (photo)". Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  14. Doi Phu Nom picture
  15. "The Legend of Khanom". Ice Family Tour. 2007. Archived from the original on 2 April 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  16. "Nom Sao Island (Ko Nom Sao)". Thailand.com. Archived from the original on 22 March 2006. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  17. Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park - Activities Archived 17 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  18. "Ko Nom Sao". Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  19. Chanthaburi, Laem Sing Beach
  20. "The meaning of place names in Ashfield". Ashfield District Council. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  21. "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.
  22. Burrén y Burrena, las "dos teticas" con historia en Fréscano Archived 2011-04-30 at the Wayback Machine
  23. "Nicaragua. Ometepe Island. Between ancient legends and biodiversity". SouthWorld. February 2017.
  24. "Bubble Mountains". Hike Bubble Mountains ME. July 2010. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
  25. "Pinnacle Mountain State Park". The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture. 4 February 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  26. Evans, Frances P. (August 1958). "The Mystic Huajatolla". Trail and Timberline. Colorado Mountain Club: 103.
  27. "Geology". Jackson Hole.com. 2011. Archived from the original on 8 February 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  28. sfgov.org Archived 14 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  29. "Uncanoonuc Mountains". Dan LaRochelle. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
  30. "Mollies Nipple Visit Utah". www.visitutah.com. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  31. Squawteat Peak archaeological site, The Handbook of Texas
  32. Cerro Tres Tetas - Argentina
  33. "Cerro Batoví" (in Spanish). Enciclopedia Geográfica del Uruguay. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  34. "Teta de Niquitao" (in Spanish). Cúspides Venezuela. 2008. Archived from the original on 19 March 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2011.

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