Breast-shaped hill explained

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 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 a Celtic language name meaning "breast-shaped hill", referring to the sandstone bluff on which the fort stood; this later evolved into the name Manchester.^{[2] [3]}

Breast-shaped hills are often 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] Many of 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 to the Indigenous Australian people as Didhol or Dithol (Woman's Breast) was renamed Pigeon House Mountain by Captain James Cook at the time of his exploration of Australia's eastern coast in 1770.^[8]

Mamelon (from French "nipple") is a French name for a breast-shaped hillock.^[9] 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.^[10]

Africa

African Great Lakes

• Mount Elgon on the Uganda-Kenya border
• Sweet Sixteen, Matthews Range (Ldoinyo Lenkiyio), Laikipia district, Rift Valley Province, northern Kenya.^[11]

Horn of Africa

• Naasa Hablood in Somaliland

Indian Ocean

• Trois Mamelles mountains in the west of Mauritius
• Mamelles Island, Seychelles

Southern Africa

• Omatako Mountain south-west of Otjiwarongo in Namibia
• Sheba's Breasts, Eswatini; these formations inspired British writer H. Rider Haggard, who included them in his novel King Solomon's Mines.^[12]
• Three Sisters in the Northern Cape, South Africa

West Africa

• Deux Mamelles, Pointe des Almadies, Cap-Vert, Senegal^[13]

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

• Sroh-Plom Mountain, "Virtuous Woman's Breast Mountain", located close to Senmonorom, Senmonorom District, Mondulkiri Province, Cambodia.^[14]

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 :

• two mountains in Zhenfeng County, Guizhou Province

• two peaks of Golden Needle Mountain in Taimali Township, Taitung County, Taiwan
• Rushan (meaning "Breast Mountain") is a mountain in Weihai, Shandong Province, China.

Malaysia

• Hills on Dayang Bunting Island, Langkawi, named for their supposed resemblance to a pregnant maiden.

Middle East

• Jabal Al Nahdain is a set of hills in the middle of Sana’a, Yemen. It was on the property of the Presidential Palace and is used as a weapons cache.
• 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.
• Ilihan Hill, "Watery Breast", a pilgrimage site about four kilometres from Jagna, Bohol
• Kagmasuso, among other breast-shaped hills in San Andres, Catanduanes^[15]
• 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^[16]

• Mount Susong Dalaga (also known as Breast Peak) in Tampakan, South Cotabato

• Susong Dalaga Peak of Mount Batolusong, Tanay, Rizal

• Manabu Peak (also known as Mount Dalaga or Mount Susong Dalaga) of the Malepunyo Mountain Range between the provinces of Batangas, Laguna, and Quezon

• Mount Tagapo (also known as Mount Susong Dalaga), Talim Island, Rizal two huge conical hills that are the highest peaks of Talim Island.
• Musuan Peak, an active volcano in Maramag, Bukidnon

Thailand

• Doi Phu Nom (ดอยภูนม), Phayao Province, a breast-shaped hill rising in an area of grassland of the Phi Pan Nam Range.^[17]
• Khao Nom (เขานม), was one of the former names of Khanom, a district of Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, due to the surrounding mountains.^[18]
• Khao Nom Nang, a hill at Huai Krachao, Kanchanaburi. 14.3°N 99.7167°W
• Khao Nom Nang, (เขานมนาง), a hill north of Pak Phraek, Kanchanaburi. 14.0833°N 99.5667°W
• Khao Nom Nang, a hill between Nong Pet and Chong Sadao, Kanchanaburi. 14.3506°N 99.2147°W
• Khao Nom Nang, an isolated hill in Khok Samae San, Lopburi. 15.3167°N 100.85°W
• Khao Nom Nang, an isolated large hill in Khao Kala, Nakhon Sawan Province. 15.5667°N 100.2833°W
• Khao Nom Nang, the name of two hills west of Doeng Bang Nam Buat, Suphan Buri. 14.85°N 100.0667°W
• Khao Nom Sao (เขานมสาว), "female breast mountain", a mountain located in Ranong Province, Thailand.
• Khao Nom Sao, a round hill east of Phet Kasem road in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province. 10.9833°N 99.3667°W
• Khao Nom Sao, a mountain in Chumphon Province. 9.7667°N 98.7169°W
• Khao Nom Sao, a hill in Phang Nga Province, part of a greater mountain system. 8.9667°N 98.4667°W
• Khao Nom Wang (เขานมวังก), a small hill just east of the main road at Phanom Wang, Khuan Khanun District, also known as Khao Phanom Wang, Phatthalung Province. 7.6828°N 100.0169°W
• Ko Nom Sao (Thai: เกาะนมสาว, lit. female breast island) are twin islands located in the Phang Nga Bay,^[19] Phang Nga Province.
• Ko Nom Sao in Khao Sam Roi Yot National Park, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province.^[20] 12.2167°N 101°W
• Ko Nom Sao, an island off the shore in Chanthaburi Province.^{[21] [22]} 12.4667°N 103°W

Europe

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
• Mam Barisdale in Knoydart, Scotland
• Mynydd Llanwenarth near Abergavenny, Wales
• Mount Keen in Aberdeenshire / Angus, Scotland
• Northala Fields in London, England. Technically 4 hills, and artificial, but clearly resembling two "grassy boobs" from the A40
• 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.^[23]
• 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

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

Greece

• Breasts of Aphrodite in Mykonos

Hungary

• Sashegy

Iceland

• Vatnsdalshólar

Slovenia

• Šmarna gora or Mount Saint Mary north of Ljubljana

Spain

• Tetica de Bacares or "La Tetica", a 2,086 m (6,488 ft) high mountain in the Sierra de Los Filabres, Spain.^[24]
• , commonly known as Tetas de Lierganes, in Cantabria
• Tetas de Viana, La Alcarria, Guadalajara Province
• Puig de Mamelles, Felanitx, Mallorca
• Ses Mamelles, 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^[25] near Fréscano, Aragon

North and Central America

Canada

• Anûkathâ 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

Guadeloupe

• Mamelles

Haiti

• Morne Deux Mamelles

Mexico

• Las Tetas de Juana, San Pedro Municipality, Coahuila
• Tres Tetas Mountain 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.^[26]

Panama

• Cerro La Teta in Las Guabas

Puerto Rico

• Cerro Las Tetas in Salinas
• Tetas de Cerro Gordo in San German

United States

• Bubble Mountains, in Acadia National Park, Maine.^[27]
• Isanaklesh Peaks, in Maricopa County, Arizona, formerly known as Squaw Tits.
• 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, 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.^[28]
• Rock Mary, Caddo County, Oklahoma.
• Spanish Peaks, Colorado, named Huajatolla by the Ute Indians, meaning "two breasts".^[29]
• Tetilla Peak, Caja del Rio, New Mexico. "Tetilla" is Spanish for "nipple".
• Teton Range. French-Canadian trappers named the Teton Mountains around 1820. The distinctive peaks appeared as Les Trois Tétons (The Three Breasts) as seen from the north;^[30]
  • Grand Teton,
  • Middle Teton,
  • South Teton.
• 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.^[31] 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.^[32]
• Mollie's Nipple or Molly's Nipple is the name given to as many as seven peaks and some other geological features in Utah.^[33]
• Tunas Peak located in Pecos County, Texas, west of Bakersfield.^[34]
• Betsy Bell and Mary Gray, two adjacent hills in Staunton, Virginia.
• Little and Big House Mountain, two adjacent mountains in Lexington, Virginia, resemble breasts if viewed from Kerr's Creek.

Oceania

Australia

• Pyramid Hill, Pilbara, Western Australia
• The Paps, Victoria
• Pigeon House Mountain, New South Wales
• Black Mountain (Australian Capital Territory) and Mount Ainslie, the space between being known as Canberra, meaning cleavage between the two 'breasts' of those mountains.^[35]
• Mammaloid Hills, Victoria, Australia

New Zealand

• Saddle Hill, Dunedin
• Harbour Cone, Dunedin

South America

Argentina

• Cerro Tres Tetas, in Santa Cruz^[36]
• Cerro Teta in Neuquén.
• Ñuñorco Grande, in Tucumán.
• Los Nonos, in Nono, Córdoba.

Bolivia

• Cerro Tres Tetas in Potosí

Chile

• Sierra Teta, Futaleufú
• Tetas del Biobío, formed by Cerro Teta Norte and Cerro Teta Sur, located in the mouth of the Biobío River.

Colombia

• Cerro La Teta, La Guajira
• Morro La Teta, El Carmen de Viboral, Antioquia
• Pico Tetari, Serranía del Perijá, La Guajira

Cuba

• Tetas de Santa Teresa, Baracoa

French Guiana

• Les Mamelles Islets

Peru

• Cerro Tetas, Chiclayo Province

Uruguay

• Cerro Batoví, in Tacuarembó. Batoví means breast of a virgin in the Guaraní language.^[37]
• Cerro Pan de Azúcar (Sugarloaf Hill), in the Maldonado Department

Venezuela

• Tetas de María Guevara, Isla Margarita
• Teta de Niquitao, Trujillo State^[38]
• Cerro de Las Tetas, Tinaquillo, Cojedes
• Cerro las Tres Tetas, Barquisimeto

See also

• Maiden Paps (disambiguation)
• Mamelon (fort)
• Mamelon (volcanology)
• Mamucium
• Monadnock
• Mountains and hills of Scotland
• Phallic Rock, a rock in Arizona, United States
• St Melangell's Church, Pennant Melangell
• The Sleeping Lady

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

Notes and References

1. Web site: The feminine in early Irish myth and legend . Scoilnet . 4 April 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110611054430/http://www.scoilnet.ie/womeninhistory/content/unit1/female.html . 11 June 2011 .
2. Book: Mills, A.D. . A Dictionary of British Place-Names . Oxford University Press . 2003 . 0-19-852758-6 . Oxford.
3. Hylton (2003), p. 6.
4. Web site: Samson, South Hill Chambered Cairn - The Megalithic Portal.
5. Web site: Samson, North Hill - The Megalithic Portal.
6. Web site: Burrén. Parque Arqueológico de la Primera Edad del Hierro en Frescano. Ruta de la Garnacha. 30 July 2010.
7. Web site: The Story of Bodhidharma. USA Shaolin Temple . 4 April 2011.
8. Web site: Didhol (Pigeon House Mountain). South Coast of NSW. Morningside web publishers. 9 October 2013.
9. Book: Dictionnaire Du Petrole Et Autres Sources D'Energie: Anglais-Franncais, Francais-Anglais . 936 . Comprehensive Dictionary of Petroleum and Other Energy Sources . Moureau . M. . Brace . G. . Editions Technip . January 2008 . 4 April 2011 . 978-2-7108-0911-1.
10. Web site: L'histoire du cratère Dolomieu (Piton de la Fournaise) . Dominique . Decobecq . fr . 4 April 2011 . 9 April 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150409061950/http://dominique.decobecq.perso.neuf.fr/Dolomieu%20histoire.html . dead .
11. Web site: Africa: taking flight over Kenya's elephant country . Jackman . Brian . 16 January 2009 . 4 April 2011 . The Daily Telegraph.
12. Web site: Sheba's Breasts & Execution Rock . The Kingdom of Eswatini . 9 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210613025833/https://www.thekingdomofeswatini.com/central-eswatini/shebas-breasts-execution-rock/ . 13 June 2021 . live.
13. Web site: Encyclopedia of Arkansas . 2024-02-16 . Encyclopedia of Arkansas . en-US.
14. Web site: Lay . Vicheka . March 25, 2005 . Cambodian Resort "Virtuous Woman's Breast" Mountain . 7 February 2021 . Tales of Asia.
15. Web site: Virac (Capital Town) . Catanduanes Local Government . 2010 . 4 April 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110309035319/http://catanduanes.gov.ph/local-government/municipalities/virac-capital-town/ . 2011-03-09 . dead .
16. Web site: Maiden's breast mountain, Occ. Mindoro (photo) . 4 April 2011.
17. Web site: Doi Phu Nom picture . 18 February 2012 . 22 February 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150222163055/http://www.thaidphoto.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1697861870&stc=1&d=1289989443 . dead .
18. Web site: The Legend of Khanom . Ice Family Tour . 2007 . 4 April 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110402071854/http://www.icefamilytour.com/eng_recommend_package07.php . 2 April 2011 .
19. Web site: Nom Sao Island (Ko Nom Sao) . 4 April 2011 . Thailand.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20060322145630/http://www.thailand.com/travel/beach/beach_phangnga_konomsao.htm . 22 March 2006 .
20. Web site: Fun activities close by your home. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20100317121208/http://www.centralthai.com/Bansabai/activity2.html. 17 March 2010. Central Thai.
21. Web site: Ko Nom Sao . 2011-08-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110716214133/http://www.thaihotelslinks.com/Chuntaburi/attrations-2.htm . 2011-07-16 . dead .
22. Web site: Chanthaburi, Laem Sing Beach . 2 August 2011 . 25 July 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110725205302/http://www.tothailand.com/province/eastcoast/chanthaburi/index.php . dead .
23. Web site: The meaning of place names in Ashfield . Ashfield District Council . 4 April 2011 .
24. Web site: Tetica de Bacares, Sierra de los Filabres (2.080 m. altitud) (photo) . Panoramio . 4 April 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121105185625/http://www.panoramio.com/photo/4116 . 5 November 2012 . dead .
25. Web site: Burrén y Burrena, las "dos teticas" con historia en Fréscano. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20110430014658/http://aragondigital.es/especiales/bona/noticia.asp?notid=79660. 30 April 2011. Aragón Digital. 6 January 2011 .
26. Web site: Nicaragua. Ometepe Island. Between ancient legends and biodiversity.. SouthWorld . February 2017.
27. Web site: Bubble Mountains . Hike Bubble Mountains ME . July 2010 . 2 September 2011.
28. Encyclopedia: Pinnacle Mountain State Park . The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture . 4 February 2011 . 4 April 2011.
29. The Mystic Huajatolla. Trail and Timberline. August 1958. 103. Frances P.. Evans. Colorado Mountain Club.
30. Web site: Geology. Jackson Hole.com. 4 April 2011. 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110208050037/http://www.jacksonholenet.com/nature/geology.php. 8 February 2011.
31. Web site: Twin Peaks: San Francisco. https://web.archive.org/web/20071020034217/https://sfgov.org/site/uploadedfiles/recpark/volunteer/Community_Catalyst_Newsletters/brochure_web(1).pdf. dead. 20 October 2007. City and County of San Francisco.
32. Web site: Uncanoonuc Mountains . Dan LaRochelle . 9 April 2012 .
33. Web site: Mollies Nipple Visit Utah. www.visitutah.com. en. 2019-10-18.
34. Web site: Tunas Peak - Peakbagger.com . 2023-07-14 . peakbagger.com.
35. Web site: Hayne . Jordan . 4 April 2016 . Thousands of Indigenous heritage sites scattered across Canberra . 22 January 2023 . ABC News . "[The word 'Canberra'] means cleavage – the space between a woman's breasts, that's Black Mountain and Mount Ainslie, and a very very important area for our people, indeed a corroboree ground for our people, right where the National Museum of Australia is today.".
36. Web site: Cerro Tres Tetas - Argentina. www.indexmundi.com.
37. Web site: Cerro Batoví. Enciclopedia Geográfica del Uruguay . es . 4 April 2011.
38. Web site: Teta de Niquitao . es . Cúspides Venezuela . 2008 . 4 April 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170319023606/http://www.cuspidesvenezuela.com/teta.htm . 19 March 2017 . dead.