Rock Art Blog (RABLog)

New Year........ New Blog!

2007-01-01T14:28:00.000+01:00

Beware of crossing standing stones!

(photo by Hettie Goverts. Click to enlarge)

A very Happy New Year to you all. This might be a good moment in time to switch to our new blog "British Rock Art Blog" (BRAB) on Wordpress.com. We already did some try-outs there (thanks Hob & Brian) and you will receive an invitiation by e-mail to take a look there. It is our intention to give you the status of "Contributor" on the new blog. That may cause some husle to get registered, etc. But it is worthwhile because there are much beter features on the new blog like: being able to use html (url's, etc.) in the comments, a search engine, the possiblity to see who has commented to a topic lately, perma-linking, etc. Please give it a try and play around with it! We also are putting the good old "Rock Art in the British Landscape" on ice. That means that the new blog will also be used as a forum and for that reason it is open to anyone who wants to comment. That is: for the time being....... if to much trolls and lunatics pop-up, access will be restricted to (invited) contributors only. So RABL will be terminated within a few months time. We are now working on the tranfersion of the "Rock Art-icles" to BRAC. We'll keep you posted! Hope to see/hear of you on the British Rock Art Blog soon! The full url is: http://rockartuk.wordpress.com/ Have a wonderfull 2007! Cheers from Gus & Jan

Rock Art News

2006-12-31T00:34:00.000+01:00

Hi Folks, Found this blog on the web run by "Rock Art News". I don't know who he/she/they is/are but there is an amazing lot of news from all corners of the world. It could well be the collection blog of StonePages or so. Here's the link.....Enjoy! Rock Art News Cheers, Jan

Northern Lights

2006-12-13T00:30:00.000+01:00

Last weekend, and the weekend before, saw the all too short run of an installation art piece at Simonside, Northumerland. The work was comissioned as part of the 50th Birthday of the Northumberland National Park. Artist Phil Supple used a series of rock art inspired light sculptures (such as the one below based on motifs at Ketley Crag) to illuminate a trail leading to a view of the north west crags of Simonside, wonderfully lit by projections of Cup and Ring motifs based on Stan's drawings.

Andy managed to make a dash up there to provide background information on rock art to those taking part in one of the organised walks from the bottom of the ill to the summit. (Despite having been given dodgy directions and very short notice due to a case of projectile vomiting babies in the house of Hob)

Despite having looked forward to the event for weeks, I thought I wasn't going to be able to get there, but was luckily given the chance to get up there for the last half hour of the lights. It was pretty darned good to see these motifs projected onto a surface I know is a prominent feature of the views of many of Northumberland's RA and other monuments.

Despite waht the promotional leaflet had inferred, there was no light show at Lordenshaw, so as part of the evening, my associates and I paid a nocturnal visit to the main panel and waved some torches at it. I regret the lack of a tripod, as the moon rose a lovely shade of orangey-red.

Possibly they'll do something similar next year, but probably at a different site.

Well done Northumberland National Park and Mr Supple. It was much appreciated.

West Yorks Rock Art book now on CD

2006-12-11T23:02:00.000+01:00

I spoke to Keith Boughey last week and he said the Rock Art of West Yorkshire book is now completely sold out. However the publishers (WYAS) have decided to put the book onto a CD and i think its for sale at the same price as the book (£14.00?) . So at least it is still available in some format. Keith has also put his own 'update' CD together (£5?) with details of some significant finds that have come to light since the book was published. Contact details for the publishers at http://www.arch.wyjs.org.uk/aspubl.htm

incised rocks

2006-12-04T17:42:00.000+01:00

Here's some eg's of the incised rocks from the Glentarf area , as they don't necessarily have any conventional rock art on them they have not been put on BRAC .

Sir James on E-Bay

2006-12-02T15:18:00.000+01:00

Not an every day's offer on Ebay! Look at that cover; the best X-mas present ever.

What lays beneath?

2006-12-01T23:48:00.000+01:00

Here's a link to some 'neolithic' marked stones found near Boston Spa ( just down the road from me). They were buried in pits in a field overlooking the river Wharfe. Best to follow the pages for the 2004 dig to get an idea of the context. http://www.bsparch.org.uk/excavations_pit_aligns.htm Not your conventional cup and ring rock art but there are other examples of rocks with linear markings (Hinderwell beacon etc) and it seems to have been another way of marking rocks way back then. When i see these kinds of marks i am reminded of the ritual practice of 'cutting' the rock/stone as found among the indigenous Australians

Any thoughts?

2006-11-26T11:20:00.000+01:00

Hi Folks, Went walking over Blackmyre moor yesterday, rather than trying to find something i knew about, i was looking for new carvings. I spotted this really nice rock, it is covered in depressions, almost certainly natural.I do think that perhaps this rock did have carvings at sometime, perhaps before natural effects took their toll. I say this mainly because of the place the rock is situated. We have a burn on either side of the rock, a burn behind which flows through the moor and on into both the burns to the sides. It also has a 360 degree around the rock, from where you look to the sea, to Glenquicken, to Cambret Hill, Cairnharrow and Cairnholy. I would think there can be few other idealy placed rocks for carvings, especially in Galloway.Also take into account the panel that is in the Stewartry museum which came from Blackmyre farm, then this area is ideal.

Internet Explorer 7 & RCAHMS

2006-11-19T11:02:00.000+01:00

Hi Folks, Just wondering if anyone else has downloaded IE7?.. I have and quite like it, though it does seem to have a few problems when you try and use Canmore. I can access the area i want, but looking at details, or zooming in, just does not work. Let me kow if anyone else has tried IE7 and RCAHMS. cheers Brian

BAA 2006 Award for NRA/BA

2006-11-14T21:38:00.000+01:00

Hi Folks, Here's the charter of the BAA 2006 award won by Newcastle University. A well deserved recognition for the whole team! Our congratulations! Cheers, Jan

Returning Rock

2006-11-11T22:57:00.000+01:00

http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/display.var.1017174.0.historic_stone_back_home_on_moors.php Not sure, but could be 144 in PRAoWR.

Alaskan Spirals

2006-11-09T21:39:00.000+01:00

More petroglyphic tomfoolery from the Tlingit in Alaska, 3-8k years old apparently: Nice spirals, crap names for beaches:
http://www.wrangell.com/visitors/attractions/history/petroglyph/index.html
http://www.hickerphoto.com/petroglyph-beach-wrangell-3745-pictures.htm
cup & rings, they're fish eyes ah tell the!!

Burial cairns as rock-art symbols?

2006-11-07T23:07:00.000+01:00

here's a link to an interesting picture of the cairn field at Joelahtme in Estonia http://www.sea.ee/lehed/eci/east.html It might seem a long way away but Knox noted a remarkably similar site near Ravenscar on the North York Moors before it was destroyed in the early 1800's. Note also some details about the cup marked sliding stone at Kostivere- where sliding bare bottomed down the stone could help get a woman pregnant. http://www.rebala.ee/en/?Places_of_interest:Sliding_cultstone Mr Fitz said he used to slide down a large sloping rock at the Wainstones when he was a lad ......hmmmm

UK's most southerly example of RA?

2006-11-02T21:51:00.000+01:00

Just having a surf around and came across this http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/specColl/SoA_images/detail.cfm?object=3774 This is a new one to me and I guess is the most southerly piece of rock art in the UK cheers fitz

Burrup Pennisula RA 18,000 yrs old?

2006-10-30T22:22:00.000+01:00

Eyup folks, the HA discussion board just had a post about this: http://politicalarchaeology.wordpress.com/activist-archaeology/ I know it's a bit outside our usual sphere of influence, and we've touched on it before, but is this 18,000 figure likely to be confirmed? PS: If anyone feels like mithering senator Campbell as suggested on the above link, It couldn't do any harm could it?

RAM 2007

2006-10-21T20:21:00.000+02:00

Hi Folks, Just to let you all know... I have set the date for RAM07, it will be held on June 10th 2007. I hope this is okay for everyone, i have not got all the fine details worked out yet, but it will be on that date. Looking forward to seeing you all in my home land. Brian

Let me know if this works

2006-10-20T00:32:00.000+02:00

Hello folks, Could someone do me a favour and tell me if this zip downloads and opens OK? Jan, I've still got the High res versions if you still want them on disc. http://www.hobsonish.plus.com/asr/asr.zip (Jan: The whole serie can be seen on the 'Sculpture Rocks of Northumberland' collection on BRAC. Thanks a lot, Hob!)

With Regard to RAM07......

2006-10-09T23:53:00.000+02:00

Hi Folks, Just a quickie, been thinking and chewing some fat with regards to next years RAM. I know some folks were thinking about having a couple of days type thingy, that would maybe involve a stop over somewhere on the saturday night so we could have a chat etc.. So those that were perhaps thinking of staying over, would it be a camping thing or a hotel or b&b thing? I am just trying to work a few things out in my head, wasn't sure if you folks liked hotels etc..or would rather just camp?.. I know its along way off yet, but i like to plan things early.. wolfy

Circles launched in Hexham

2006-10-02T00:09:00.000+02:00

Hi Folks, Stan emailed me a document (probably a press-release) about events surrounding the launch of his latest book coming November in Hexham. Cheers, Jan

Gallows Outon Spiral.....revealed.

2006-10-01T18:39:00.000+02:00

Hi Folks, Just to let you know that the spiral at Gallows Outon has showed itself this past weekend. It has been the one carving i have wanted to see since i started getting the rock art bug... The carving looks as special as i thought it would do, after seeing it in the Ronald Morris book,(my first rock art book bought just after i got the bug..). I had to move alot of cow muck to get to this carving, i was left smelly etc, but it was worth it.( I am sure Suzanne has some pics of me shovelling the sh*t*..). Another interesting thing was the 3 sets of carved initials found just up from the carvng...seems like it was something the old antiquarians did. It was also interesting to visit St Ninians cave just after Gallows Outon, and to find a small carving very similar to the spiral at Gallows was a little spooky..

Strange things found near Whithorn.....

2006-09-30T23:33:00.000+02:00

Hi Folks, Today were were down near Whithorn, managed to get a really nice panel which i can show you all pretty soon. We also visited St Ninians Cave, the cave is carved with all sorts of crosses, names etc..but one carving caught my eye, might not mean anything, but still once you see the rock art pics i took earlier, there could well be a link or a meaning between the two. Tell me what you think of this little carving on the walls of the cave.. and then wait till you see the rock art pics to follow.. Gallows Outon Spiral wolfy & pebbles

Essential read?

2006-09-28T13:58:00.000+02:00

Here's a link to a short paper by Breck Parkman (senior state archaeologist) in the US. Should be of interest to any one trying to get a handle on the ancient world view connected with rock art sites. Well worth a read IMHO. Interesting photo's too. Essential read?

Any Thoughts On Why?....

2006-09-23T23:02:00.000+02:00

Hi Folks, We were at Park of Tongland today looking at the original recorded panel from 1987, although i have the original pictures, they do not do the carvings justice. One big thing about the carvings that makes me think, why would you start such a big motif as a cup and 6 rings, if you knew the rock you were carving on could not take such a size motif?..the rock has not been broken off, it is the same size it as always been, so why was that design chosen?.. Park of Tongland 1 (TMA) Park of Tongland 2 (TMA) wolfy

Hhhmmm cup marked potboilers??

2006-09-18T23:29:00.000+02:00

Attached is a link to some potboilers that have recently been discovered near New Cowper in Cumbria, interestingly the site has been dated to late Neolithic - Early Bronze Age. Theres some distinctly cup like depressions in yon potboilers + some that look entirely natural. I've asked David Reynolds (website owner & photographer) if theres any thoughts as to how these depressions were created (heat, natural marks or manmade), he’s come back having asked the excavating archaeos & says the feeling is that some were manmade…..debateable I know!! If some are manmade, could this be a rather tenuous link between cup marks & water, or were these depression used for practical purposes, like heating herbs or summat before being chucked int pot , or broken off a panel & had no meaning whatsoever to the average potboiler user????? I know west Cumbria wasn't exactly the hot bed of the petroglyph industry but their existence & context is quite interesting…… Cup Marked Potboilers

Faces on Stone....

2006-09-18T22:58:00.000+02:00

(pic taken by suzanne)

Hi Folks, Just noticed some folks had been looking at faces in british rock art.. thought you might like to see this one the farmer at Tealing showed us on one of the walls of the buildings. any thoughts..

On the spot guidance!

2006-09-17T22:48:00.001+02:00

A Rock Art Whisperer (right) and a colleague at Blacktop, Aberdeenshire.

It was Sandy wot done 'em .

2006-09-16T21:16:00.000+02:00

When and why have yet to be answered but now at least we know who. Found this today along with three cups and the possibility of more under field clearance. About 6 miles from Crieff where there was an Alexander Crerar born about 1810 who had a wide interests so might be him. Will do a census & Parish register search next week to see if there were any other A.C.'s

Castlerigg - the spiral that vanished

2006-09-12T21:51:00.000+02:00

(Click for a larger Yoghurt!)

I came across this article today. I don't want to post a link to the article here, but a google search using some words to the title should take you the pdf on the first author's web site. A very interesting read; it made my day (I don't get out much). They even quote an anonymous person called Hob from the Modern Antiquarian. Have a look at fig 4 (F). A small figure but in my worst moments I swear that I can see a spiral! Is it all in the mind (or yoghurt)? Andy Journal of Archaeological Science Volume 33, Issue 11 , November 2006, Pages 1580-1587 The article in pdf-format: The spiral that vanished: the application of non-contact recording techniques to an elusive rock art motif at Castlerigg stone circle in Cumbria

Abstract

This article describes the recording of stone 11 of the Castlerigg stone circle in Cumbria through two different non-contact techniques: laser scanning and ground-based remote sensing. Despite the unproblematic recording of modern graffiti, neither technique was able to document the spiral photographed and rubbed in 1995. It is concluded that the spiral was most probably painted and has since faded away due to natural events. The discovery and loss of the spiral motif in Castlerigg is seen as a cautionary tale. In particular, it seems to suggest that it is time to take advantage of the novel technologies based on the digitisation of 3D surfaces with millimetre and submillimetre accuracy such as laser scanning and ground-based remote sensing. They offer many advantages to the recording of prehistoric carvings. In addition to avoiding direct contact with the rock surface eliminating the preservation concerns raised by other techniques, both produce high quality images (laser scanning offering a greater potential for this, but at higher cost) having a much higher level of objectivity, and precision and accuracy far beyond those of traditional recording methods such as wax rubbings and scale drawings.

Recording Rock Art..the best way?

2006-09-12T09:51:00.000+02:00

(Click to enlarge)

Hi Folks, After uncovering the new panel at The Grange, i realise that i have further work to do there to record the panel properly for D&E. I know what details to take etc, but never on this size of panel, so far only recording smaller or simpler panels. When it comes to drawing or sketching larger panels, is there a set method involved or is it just draw what you see?..i am not too bad at drawing but would still like to get it as accurate as possible,obviously the use of a grid marker would perhaps help.. any thoughts on the subject.. What methods do you use George?. Brian

Grange

2006-09-10T23:53:00.000+02:00

Nice one Brian: http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/8819 I like the tale of the old fella with the chainsaw. It is a strange old motif isn't it? It reminds me of something, but I can't quite recall what.

Strange sight in a Cumbrian field.

2006-09-09T01:07:00.000+02:00

I hesitate to raise this issue but i am becoming increasingly concerned that the study of too much rock art can have disturbing sided effects. A couple of weekends ago i was shocked to see two well known rock art enthusiasts have now taken to dressing as pirates and running a round fields in Cumbria. This seemingly respectable couple (who shall remain nameless ?) were last seen staggering off towards a field of tents, kicking their heels in the air and shouting "Ah-Har me Hearty's!". Unfortunately i did not have a camera to hand and was somewhat transfixed by the wierdness of this spectacle, but if any anonomous pictures find their way to the blog, it might be better to get this out in the open .. whats it worth Mr W?. Regards GC

Close ups of peck marks

2006-09-04T21:20:00.000+02:00

(Cairnholy-6. Photo by George. Click to enlarge)

Is anyone out there aware of any studies which look at the fine detail of peck marks? I'm still undecided about this 'andesite pick' concept. It seems to work in Northumberland as a rough rule, but some of the pecks look a bit too tight. Also, the few bits of Dumfries stuff I've seen look like they would have been well tricky to make with a stone pick. Then just to add to my confusion, I read that schist is harder than granite, so the Kilmartin stuff would have been a bit difficult to do with stone. So I guess what I'm asking is about suff in a similar vein to those studies you see about scratches on flints or metal tools that indicate what they were used for, but in reverse.

Linda Gordon: I Am Here Now

2006-08-27T00:11:00.000+02:00

(click to enlarge)

Hi Folks, We received the following invitation from Linda Gordon, one of the RAM'06-ers: "I would very much like you to come to the opening party of my exhibition in rural Northumberland. It is the culmination of my year-long residency here, and I shall be showing a number of works, including installlations in the fields and barns of Highgreen. I attach a photo with details. I realise it is in a remote area of the country - but well worth the journey if you feel like enjoying some fabulous landscape, clean air and empty roads (well almost), plenty of sheep and some interesting art. Please contact me if you want to know more, or need the map deciphering.... Linda" In a later e-mail she added: "If anyone wants to come to my show, there are some great walks, and the local pub is having a barbeque with live music on the same day." So what are we waiting for? On to Highgreen! (I've invited Linda to this RABlog so she will be happy to inform you on-blog!)

Chinese RA neolithic star map

2006-08-18T13:56:00.000+02:00

interesting: http://english.people.com.cn/200608/15/eng20060815_293315.html

English Heritage info sign

2006-08-16T19:06:00.000+02:00

Was confronted by this sign at Chatton yesterday......can't argue with the sentiment, can't help but laugh at the delivery.

Circles in Stone

2006-08-15T20:53:00.000+02:00

(click to enlarge) Stan Beckensall sent us the cover of his new book: "Circles in Stone, A British Prehistoric Mystery" ISBN: 0752440152 It will be publish by Tempus on 1 Nov. 2006. Congratulations from all of us, Stan! A nice addition to the "Chronology of British Rock Art Books" on BRAC.

Solar alignment? Surely not...

2006-08-09T01:12:00.000+02:00

Alright, I'll admit to a daft idea and back it up with some daftness. Jacqui and I went up to West Weetwood the weekend after the summer solstice, and as we sat at Ketley watching the sunset, it became apparent that the 'rock shelter' is placed so that it faces in just the right direction to catch the last rays of midsummer's day. Now I know we were a week after, but I clagged the flash unit on a monopod, placed it in about the position that I think the sun would have set on the Solstice, and Lo! the light went straight(ish) up the central groove on the sheter floor. Prompting all sorts of thoughts about how the line dividing the two halves of the panel may have represented the boundary between two aspects of life, embodied by the waxing and waning of the sun, or it's movements alog the horizon. Pure conjecture, and hardly a sound theory, but it's testable. So next year, I know where I want to be on midsummer's evening. Sitting at the boundary of the upper world and the underworld, by the cracks in the hill where the lines flow into the rock, at the point in time when the light comes from as far to the north as it ever can. I know RA isn't supposed to relate to the sky and would never dream of being such a heretic as to suggest it does, but hey, I'm only reporting an observation ;) (Hi Hob! I've included the requested image. The other ones are here.)

Hareshaw Linn II

2006-08-05T13:49:00.000+02:00

Visited this site yesterday & just don’t know what to make of it. There’s definitely some multiple circular-ish action going on, but it’s really difficult to determine what actually is there. Potentially, it could be a carving, or a weird bedding or erosion feature, although some of the arcs did appear to cut across the planes. This circular feature seemed to be existent on other parts of the rock also……so bedding, or potentially more carvings???? Unfortunately, as I started to feel the stone most of the green forming the circles came off easily on my fingers, it seemed to be dried dead algae (recent weather conditions?) rather than lichen. The ‘feel’ approach was inconclusive because of the stones uneven surface. One thing that did spring to mind is, is algae known to form circular patterns or does it just cling to whats there? Other things to consider, is the rocks location. It’s a piece of bedrock that sits below a large overhang & over the years no doubt has suffered from a constant dripping of water from above. If it is a carving, the dripping may have speeded up the erosion process, but this might have been offset by a lack of wind.. One thing that particularly struck me was the rocks position & how the carving (if it is one) faces the only pathway to the waterfall. Presuming this pathway was there 4-5k yrs ago, if you wanted to carve for it to be seen, you probably would have chosen this spot. Taking everything into consideration, I can honestly say that I haven’t the foggiest whether anythings there or not. Would be interesting to know what others think if you visit.

New Panels on Craig Hill

2006-07-27T22:30:00.000+02:00

Hello Folks , Some new panels found on Craig Hill on a knoll (CR 21) that already has more than it's fair share of squiggles .This is the most squiggly one. (The whole Craig Hill-21 collection on BRAC with links to the other panels)

PRA at Hareshaw Linn?

2006-07-25T12:16:00.000+02:00

We received an e-mail from Andrew Gardner (aj40 on RABL) about an unusual find near Bellingham. Since there's no reported other rock art in the area, he's wondering if this is a genuine cup-and-ring motif or just another spell of nature like the Casterigg spiral. Andrew wrote: "Hareshaw Linn is a fairly big waterfall (considerably larger than Roughting Linn) at the head of a densely wooded river valley about 2 miles walk from the centre of Bellingham. There are high sand stone cliffs on both sides of the fall. Under normal Northumberland weather conditions there's usually a large volume of water coming down the river and the pool below the fall where the path ends is deep and difficult to cross safely. Climbing on to the ledge where Steve found the rock would be very difficult when the river is full too. Thanks to the prolonged hot weather we're enjoying the river is very low at present and when we were there we could cross easily and scramble up onto the large sloping ledge opposite the end of the path. The marked rock was close under the base of the cliff at the back of the ledge. If anyone else wants to go and look for it they'd better get there before the weather breaks! I would guess that Hareshaw Linn would have had some significance for prehistoric people in the area given the association of some Northumberland rock art with prominent river features (Roughting Linn, the Jack Rock cliffs at Morwick) and the association of henges with rivers so perhaps we might expect to find rock art somewhere there. There's only the one path up the valley today but maybe in prehistoric times there were other paths through the woods and the ledge was more easily accessible. It's fun to speculate on what might have been! Thanks again, I look forward to hearing what everyone else thinks we might have found." So what do we think? Cheers, Jan Links to the original 'discovery'-photos received from Andrew: "Hey, I found something!" and "Look at this!"

Morphing Stone PhotoG on TMA

2006-07-24T23:00:00.000+02:00

With thanks to English Heritage and the Northumberland & Durham Rock Art Project

Finally got round to posting some PhotoG images of the morphing stone : http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/8209 thanks to English Heritage & N&DRAP for letting me use them, special mention to Joe Gibson & Paul Bryan.

Lagganmullan rock carvings..

2006-07-17T23:13:00.000+02:00

Hi Folks , Just to let you know that another Dumfries & Galloway rock art site has decided to show its face again after a number of years..Lagganmullan in the Gatehouse area. I have photographed 2 panels so far, panels numbered 3 & 4. Panel 4 is one that we both really liked and were so impressed with, it contains 58 cups, with atleast 35 of them having single cups, a design that seems very popular within the Gatehouse region. Please take a look at the pic above, and more on TMA. I hope to locate the rest of the panels in due course.. Panel 3 is a very interesting rock, it has been dug up, and erected as a standing stone. You can see how smooth the back of the stone is where it was in the ground, the carved upper surface which was exposed is now the front edge. Lagganmullan 3 on TMA Lagganmullan 4 on TMA Lagganmullan 5 on TMA Cheers.. Brian

Barningham Moor rediscovery

2006-07-04T17:18:00.000+02:00

New find on Barningham Moor, discovered whilst following one of my ridiculous ‘trackway’ theories. It consists of approx 45 cups + 25 CnRs, a series of enclosing grooves & interlinking grooves that connect all but 5 of the ringless cup.... a quite busy yet manic design!!

Bradley; Ships on Rocks

2006-07-03T22:20:00.000+02:00

left: Stan (wearing his West Horton jumper) and Richard at Morwick in 1992 right: Richard Bradley during the interview, June 2006

Hi there Folks, Last May, Richard Bradley was a guest speaker at Leiden University, Archaeology Department. An interview with him was publised in the Dutch newspaper NRC of 18 June 2006. Lately he's involved in research of rock art in South Scandinavia, mainly on rock carvings of ships and footsteps. Here are some quotes from the article which might be of interest to you. I've numbered them for easy reference. 1. I never studied Archaeology, I only research what I like - the last five, six years I was busy with British and Irish prehistory but I'm now utterly bored by the subject. 2. There's no sense in researching rock art on its own. Only when you bring it in context with other archaeological finds, the environment and its possible audience, you are able to say something about it. If not, you could better study wallpaper. 3. During a visit to Sweden, I discovered a cairn near to the rock art. The Swedes never noticed that before because one expert studies the rock art and another the cairns. 4. I want to know how people lived in a society different from ours. But I don't use big fundamental questions, lets say the questions asked by people who try to write a dissertation and become frustrated. I just notice things and ask myself why people throw weapons into rivers and carve motifs in rocks. It would be nice if we could keep it that simple! Cheers, Jan

Filedtrip 2006 Photos

2006-06-30T23:05:00.000+02:00

Hi Guys and Gals, Just for the record: our Fieldtrip 2006 photo album is on BRAC now. Its about the 'making of' rock art photos, boring travel days, people and places, pubs and museums, IFRAO-scales, field flowers, funny moments and more. Cheers, Gus & Jan (Hob was refering to this photo of one of the Alnmouth Wall stones)

RAM'06 Photo Album

2006-06-28T18:45:00.000+02:00

Hi Folks, The RAM'06 photo album is on BRAC now. Don't worry, the album isn't closed yet so if you have rock-art-people pics of the 4th of June, please mail them to me. Cheers, Jan

RA and grub .

2006-06-21T14:27:00.000+02:00

Hello Brian , about a year ago I found six separate panels all surrounding a man made loch near Urlar . I get the impression that when they were carved the area would have been quite similar and would have attracted animals , possibly a reason for the carvings. Some of the pics are under Black Burn in the Perth and Kinross folder.

A Reason for the Carvings?...

2006-06-20T23:19:00.000+02:00

Hi Folks, Just made contact with another farmer in the Wigtown area, the farmer owns East Drummodie farm. He called me to let me know that he had something on his land i might be interested in. It was not rock carvings, but i was still interested. He found something after removing an old cattle feeder, and after having his cows wander over the area, something appeared. He had no idea what he found, but thought it was linked to other finds on the land. What he found was a circle of stones perhaps 12ft across. The interesting fact i found was that the area used to be under water and known as Dowalton Loch,and indeed there is still what remains of Dowalton Burn, there are a known number of crannogs placed around the area that the loch used to cover. Indeed parts of the land are still slightly marshy. I suggested to Mr Young that what he found might have a link to a crannog which he knows about which is situated a small distance away, or indeed it may be another crannog. He has asked me to take a look to see if i can get a better idea what it could be, (i don't need to be asked twice,lol). My idea is a simple one, if you look at what surrounds this wet area, you have a number of major rock art, or standing stone sites, such as Drumtroddan, Big Balcraig, Culnoag and Claunch. Was the main focal point for the rock carvings, the stones, the loch?..a nice picture of prehistoric life happening around the loch, with a number of hills with views over the loch, carvings made for the loch?.. I shall be meeting with Mr Young soon, should be interesing to see what exactly he has found that was hidden away under the cattle feeder all these years, perhaps unrecorded. Brian

Some questions on your views of rock art

2006-06-20T22:07:00.000+02:00

Hello this is my first post. I'm writing a short paper on the perceptions of rock art and am just asking a few questions to see what your views are. feel free to pick and choose which are relevant questions to your experiences and to add any comments that may be useful. Thanks Jo. The Perceptions of Rock Art Questionnaire (draft q’s) 1. Before going to a rock art site to record it do you read about it first and then take the book or printed web pages from the Beckensall website to the rock art site and try to find the panels from them? 2. Do the references, including descriptions, pictures, drawings, always match the rock art panel? 3. Do they differ a lot from how you might have imagined they look? 4. Does the size/area of the rock art site feel a lot bigger than might be imagined if you looked at a map? 5. Do you find all the panels or indeed motifs, if map references are wrong or they have been moved or eroded away? 6. Do you find all the numbers of cup marks that Stan Beckensall records? 7. Do some cup marks look more natural than artificial? 8. How do you feel about the landscape environment around the rock art, do roads, livestock, or people get in the way of a good peaceful view? 9. Has the landscape changed at any sites since previous pictures were taken by Beckensall or others, have trees or other plants been planted or destroyed? 10. Does turf cover alter perceptions if you’ve just looked at a panel with turf or other plants covering it and then seen more of the motifs underneath the turf? 11. If in a museum how does the environment around the rock art feel then compared to being outside on the hills? 12. Does the rock art look better in certain light conditions? 13. Is it ever facing away from the sunlight so it’s in shade from the sun and only in sunlight for a small amount of time?

2006 Fieldtrip

2006-06-19T12:15:00.000+02:00

Hi Folks, Our 8th fieldtrip ended on the 6th of June! With the first two winterly weeks almost forgotten (exept the rock art, of course!), the last sunny week stuck in our short term memory. With 40 visited sites, this was one of our most productive fieldtrips ever. One of the highlights was Urlar Burn-3 (NN84NE 29) near Aberfeldy (click photo above). It was only seen -and wrongly described- by an OS surveyer in 1975. We had the impression that the design was 'one of a kind' and it was a kind of moving in its simplicity. A cup-and-ring with groove and 3 cups and a cup-and-ring with one cup, both groups encircled by a groove. The design gave us instandly a feeling of togetherness, like a man and woman with some kids; a family-panel, a happy moment in time...... unique! Another of the many 'goodies' was Blairbuy in D&G which we visited with Suzanne & Brian on a sunny saturday in May. Yes, we even did some overtime in the weekends. South Friarton and Bonnytoun were unexpected nice ones too and so was Newbigging, although in a sad location, still an impressive "stone with a story". The 'catch' was always good enough for a stylish celebration in the pub; another nice aspect of a successfull fieldtrip! We enjoyed the well-attended RAM'06 with beautifull weather and companionable people. In short: "TOP!" A photo collection of the 'none rock art part' of the 2006 fieldtrip as well as of the RAM will be put on BRAC in due time. Thanks for all your support and good company! We hope to see you next year in Dumfries and Galloway at the RAM'07 hosted by Brian & Suzanne. Cheers, Jan

Rock Art Humor

2006-06-17T18:19:00.000+02:00

(click photo to enlarge)

Hi Folks,

Paul Bennett sent us a revealing cartoon about the true origin of cup-and-ring marks. Thanks for that, Paul! The creator of this peep into prehistory, Hunt Emerson, gave us permission to put it on BRAC and its there now in a new collection "Humor in British Rock Art". We hope for (much?) more to overcome difficult moments caused by over-reacting editors, mad landowners, one-way ticketers of turf, to serious people and so on. So send us your wink to the past for all to enjoy! Thanks, Jan

RAM-tastic! (1)

2006-06-05T14:31:00.000+02:00

A quick note to say i had a great day at Jan and Gus's 2006 Rock Art Meeting. Great weather on the day and a chance to see some fine rock art, with a friendly bunch of people. Thanks to Rich for driving us up there (door to door service - much appreciated). I've not looked at my photo's yet, but if any one has any 'gems' it would be good to see them. (groups-pic added with pleasure by Jan)

Wigtown Mini RAM06

2006-05-22T23:21:00.000+02:00

Hi Folks, Just to let you all know that Suzanne and myself had a really nice weekend in Wigtown catching up with Jan & Gus. We had a few drinks, had a few laughs, and even managed to see some good quality rock art!!. We spent the saturday at Blairbuy farm , locating 2 or 3 good panels. On the sunday we visited my new find at Boyach farm, then went to the nearby site of Drummoral. I thought i would post a couple of pics of the day on saturday at Blairbuy. The top picture showing Jan, Gus and myself in a big gorse bush...the second picture showing Jan and myself after we have found our target, a nice cup and ring carving. The rest of the pics will be posted in due course.. Brian & Suzanne

Rock Gods at Morwick?

2006-05-22T13:47:00.000+02:00

Yesterday i was looking at andy's photos of the Morwick crags carvings on TMA and also noticed the shot showing the whole crag/outcrop.With the eye of faith its possible to see a 'rock-face' (eyes, nose, mouth etc) in the upper middle section of the crags (there may be others?). This is likely to be a trick of the light and shadows, but it reminded me of an interesting site in Finland which is worth a look. http://www.internetix.fi/tutkimus/muinaistaide/kalliojumala/e-kalliojumala/index.htm

Morwick 1880s blog

2006-05-18T18:26:00.000+02:00

I found so much of interest in these old Proceedings to support my current research at Morwick that I post them in their entirety. Apologies given in advance at the length I can always edit it down latter. Morwick Mill from: Anniversary Address by Dr. Charles Douglas. History of the Berwickshire Naturalists Club Vol 8: 212-214 (1881) A move was now made onwards to Morwick Mill, where the party joined some of the members, who had gone there by a more direct route to inspect the incised figures on rocks overhanging the Coquet, a short way below the mill, which had recently been discovered by Mr Middleton Dand. These are different from any of those so well and elaborately described by our late Secretary, Mr Tate, and others, as occurring on rocks at Old Bewick, Doddington, Routing Linn. and other places in Northumberland. Those already recorded occur generally on the surface of sandstone rocks, cropping up on hills or other high ground; these are on the face of a sandstone cliff rising perpendicularly from the bed of the Coquet, a very short way above the level of the sea. The most typical of the former are composed of concentric circles with a radial groove passing from the centre to the circumference, or beyond it. In these now under observation, about six in number, there is no radial groove, but the figure in the most distinct is of a spiral form somewhat resembling those figured by Mr Tate in his paper, published in our Transactions for 1864, from sketches by Capt. Carr, R.E, as occurring on rock temples at Malta; with this remarkable difference, however, that the latter were in relief, those on the Coquet, like all others in Northumberland, incised. The first inscription seen by Mr Dand from a boat on the river is of a different character from any of the others, the outer circle being composed of a number of dots or pits, at perhaps two inches distance from each other, in this, somewhat resembling an inscription discovered by Mr Tate, at Jedburgh, but not in situ, and shown in Plate XI., Fig, 6 of the illustrations to his paper, above alluded to. The entire diameter appeared from the boat, from which the inspection was made by small detachments of our party at a time, to be about a foot, and was apparently the largest observed; it faced the river; others were on a different aspect of the rock, facing nearly at right angles to the one first observed. One of our members noticed that two of the spiral figures, close to each other, were in fact continuous, the line being carried from one to the other. The inscriptions are from about ten to fifteen feet above the present level of the river, but at the remote period at which they were doubtless executed the channel of the river would be at a much higher elevation. It is to be hoped that a minute and accurate account of these inscriptions with engravings, may be supplied for our Proceedings, by some member having the means of closer observation than we had. Some of the more adventurous of our party got a nearer view than those in the boat, by scrambling along the face of the rock, not without danger to all concerned; one energetic member displaced with his feet a block of sandstone rock, which fell with a mighty splash into the river, the boat at the time fortunately being some yards off. These rocks were covered with impressions of Lepidodendrons. The company now proceeded up the river, crossing in boats, kindly provided by Mr Dand and Mr Tate, and had a delightful walk up the banks, which were beautifully wooded and rich with blossoms, among the gayest of which were the Lychnis dioica and Geranium sylvaticum in great profusion. from: On the Incised Rocks at Morwick By James Hardy. With Notices and Illustrations by Miss Sarah Dand. Plates III,., IV., V., V*. History of the Berwickshire Naturalists Club Vol 10: 343-347 (1883) This paper on the remarkable group of incised inscriptions on the face of a precipitous sandstone rock overhanging the Coquet behind the village of Morwick, and at a short distance from Morwick Hall, is drawn up from the observations of the Club made during their visit in 1877; from the notes of Miss Sarah Dand accompanying the faithful sketches, with which, with great painstaking, she has favoured the Club; and from the recollections of a very brief visit which I paid to the spot, July 4th, 1883, in company with Mr Middleton Dand, Mr John Dand, Mr Wm. T. Hindmarsh, and Capt. McCabe. The record of the visit of the Club on the 27th June, 1877, in the address of the President, Dr. Charles Douglas, is so accurate and ample, that it is superfluous to relate afresh the circumstances of the discovery of the figures, or their special attributes. I shall therefore incorporate the greater part of it. It is owing to the Club’s resolution on that occasion, that an "account of these inscriptions with engravings," should be supplied for the Proceedings, that with Miss Dand’s assistance the subject is now resumed. [Here follows a large part of the previous publication followed by:] The distance of the incised rock from the village of Warkworth including the windings of the river is 23/4 miles; and there is little more than a mile farther to the present mouth of the river. At first I imagined that a party of wanderers sheltering here at no great distance from the open sea, might have formed these tracings during their involuntary detention; but having subsequently learned that there are remnants of a British camp on the space behind the perpendicular cliff, it is rather I think to the agency of its resident occupants that these improved exercises in stone-cutting may be attributed. "There is very little trace," Miss Dand writes, "of any camp left. A formed path three yards wide from and to the camp slopes from west to east to the level of the river, leaving a steep bank to the south, and a deeper bank from the height of the path to the river. To the north this is the only feature of manual formation, and is immediately to the east of the incised rock. An extensive view," she continues, "can be had to the north and west, but owing to the rising ground, only a short way can be seen to the south and east. Two small ravines on the west and east favour the idea that it might have been made a strong position. It has been suggested that here was the site of Hugh de Morwick’s castle (the Norman possessor of the land), but this is a mere conjecture, for I do not know of any tradition bearing this out. Were this the fact it might account for the disappearance of the outlines of the Camp. There are several mounds running from north to south on the north side of the river on Warkworth Moor. They may be merely owing to tracks worn at different ages to ‘Pomfret’s ford,’ – now corrupted into ‘Paupers’ ford – a few yards to the east; but they are not unlike barrows." This suggestion must be left for future inquiry. Miss Dand next proceeds to describe the figures in Plates III., IV. and V. The plates are exact reproductions of her pen and ink drawings. [Hob’s post on TMA: but no record of which figure is which http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/post/44191] "The figures are scattered over the face of a perpendicular grey sandstone rock on the south bank of the Coquet. Excepting in figures 1, 2, and 3 there seems no attempt at combination. Figure 1 is the highest. Calling the rock about 30 feet high, the spirals will be about 20 feet from the ordinary level of the river. Figure 2 is on part of the rock facing east and is about 7 feet from the ground. The spirals here like those in figure 1 are of a uniform size and depth, about 3 inches in diameter and cut into the rock about the 8th of an inch. In figure 4 the spiral is larger being quite 5 inches in diameter, and curls the opposite way to its smaller representatives. I find figure 5 has long been known in the village as ‘The Lion.’ It is much the largest; is about 1 foot from the ground in a part of the rock that is very coarse and gritty, and appears much affected by the weather. The cups round the horse-shoe in figure 6 are very much deeper than the lines, being cut into the rock about an inch. This figure is about 12 feet above the river. Figure 3 is much overgrown with lichens, and is very indistinct." I visited the scene under the disadvantage of a heavy thunder plump; and the troubled and discoloured river was in flood, sweeping down rafts of wood and branches. This necessitated a cautious guidance of the boat, which had to be steadied and held secure by a chain from the shore. The rock is a single cliff below the high bank, supposed to have been once crowned with a British Camp. It was ornamented with ferns from its numerous water runnels. It was surmised that the figures might at one time have been more numerous. The rock is crumbly, and detached masses of it have fallen; and the inscriptions now remaining are preserved on the more indurated projections. The northern bank of the river is grassy and without trees. The wooded scene above this free space, where the mill-race and the main stream of the Coquet meet at the apex of an islet clad with tall umbrageous trees, is exceedingly fine. To discuss the particular object and meaning of these rock-writings is beyond the scope of this paper. Among them are examples of the first spirals as yet observed among the Northumbrian rocks. next to the Berwickshire Club, the Antiquarian Society of Scotland have in their "Proceedings" figured examples of cups, circles, and other rock markings; but among them I have failed to find spirals exactly according with those represented in the accompanying plates. On the stone, however, engraved in Plate V., the similarity of the incised figures to those at Morwick, is too obvious to be disregarded. It is derived from a plate at p.106 of Mr. Robert Bruce Armstrong’s elaborate and careful "History of Liddesdale, Eskdale, Ewesdale, Wauchopedale and the Debateable Land," Part 1, Edinburgh, David Douglas, 1883, 4to; which the liberality of the publisher has placed at the disposal of the Club. The stone, evidently only a fragment of a larger block once containing more figures, forms the door-sill of the vault of the Hollows Tower on the river Esk, the residence of "Johnie Armstrong," (Gilnockie), of tragic fame, and supposed to have been erected by that Border reiver in the early part of the sixteenth century. Whence it was at first procured is not stated, but there might still be tangible evidence remaining in the neighbourhood if earnestly sought out [http://rockartuk.fotopic.net/c865746.html]. A representation of the double spiral, like that on the stone of Hollows, resembling the volutes on an Ionic column, is of ready access in the catalogue of the Museum of the S.A.S. p.115, from a sculptured stone found in a "Pict’s House" in Eday, Orkney. [http://rockartuk.fotopic.net/c911426.html] A very remarkable association of the double pagan volute with a Christian cross may be seen in a figure in the Scottish Society of Antiquaries’ volume for 1880-81, page 121, in a contribution by Mr William Stevenson on the Antiquities of the Islands of Colonsay and Oransay. A barbarous figure with a human head and a fish’s tail, has the arms converted into involute spirals on the transverse beam of the cross. The survival of the original central cup and concentric circles of the older Northumbrian sculptures, is sufficiently pronounced in the Morwick group; but art had advanced since a more primitive age, and was forming new combinations apparently more ornamental than significant, both in what was added and what was retrenched. This modification is also exemplified in some figures on the sculpted rock at Cuddy’s Cove, near Doddington, which have other more modern accompaniments. On one of them the pagan circles and cup are displayed in the centre of a small cross; shewing a pagan and Christian emblem combined, it may have been contemporaneously. We find there also the horse-shoe arch. [http://rockartuk.fotopic.net/c894075.html]

RAM 06 & Paraphernalia

2006-05-15T23:01:00.000+02:00

I’ve just uncovered a slight floor in my plan to show you some PhotoG at this years RAM, that being, my complete lack of a laptop. I could bring my Commodore64 along, but somehow I doubt it’ll render quickly enough :-) Were any of you folks thinking of bringing a laptop, if not, no worries, I’ve got plenty of time to source one. Cheers

Fieldtrip 2006

2006-05-13T21:21:00.000+02:00

Hi Folks, Next week Tuesday we leave for Newcastle to start our 8th fieldtrip to England and Scotland. We leave this blog, as we did for so long now, in your good hands and hope for even more interesting contributions. To keep the layout of the blog tidy, please choose as layout "center" (radio-button) when uploading a photo. This will keep your text under the pic instead of on the right with 2 or 3 words per line. For the 'size' of the photo; 'medium' is fine. Check 'Use this layout every time?' and you've not to worry again. Thanks! The trip is planned as follows. May 17-22: Dumfries and Galloway (Wigtown), 22-24: Stirling (Aberfoyle/Menteith), 24-29: Perth and Kinross (Aberfeldy), 29-31: Scottish Borders (Peebles), June 1-5: Northumberland (Wooler), 5-6: Rothbury and back to the lowlands. Looking forward to see you on the RAM'06 in Wooler on Sunday, 4th of June! We have about 30 RA sites on our list and hope for some new ones of course. Happy trails, folks! Gus & Jan

Spiralling out of control

2006-05-13T10:18:00.000+02:00

Just a brief report of a new rock art panel found by N&DRAP (Team 2) Special Boat Unit at Morwick Crags. The vertical rock face lies directly between Stan's 1 and 2 series on a vertical part of the cliff that overhangs the river, facing due north. On the east side of this panel round the corner (left hand side on the photos), panel 1f is about 3m high above the path that ducks under this overhang and carries a nice array of horned and linked spirals. The new panel probably continues this theme although the motifs are hard to see as they are completely covered in a uniform yellowish lichen similar to congealed custard. There are hints that multiple similar motifs lie on this new panel. We await better light for a closer look. Our early analysis is that all the carvings on Morwick Cliff may have been made from a path running along the crag line and would not have required any climbing or ladders although this path has now been severely eroded by the river leaving a few of the panels more than 3m above ground level. Just to pick up on some of the other thought provoking posts on this blog, the river was heaving with fish and the echo from the north bank is one of the best I've heard (the best I've heard)!

You never know what you have on your land!!!

2006-05-09T01:48:00.000+02:00

Hi Folks, As part of my on going research i have been getting to know some of the farmers, which can help...(see Boyach)..I got talking to Mr Wullie Gemmel from West Crosherie farm near Kirkcowan in Wigtownshire. He told me that he had stone panels with carvings built into the wall of one of his farm buildings..he told me there were circular marks, with some straight grooves. He did not know what they were, but asked if i wanted to look at them. This i did as part of my travels on saturday. When i got to the farm, you could not fail to notice the cups and rings, possible spiral in the centre of the four cup and rings, but also a strange crossover carvings,which looked pictish. I knew from doing research at the site that canmore had recorded, and i quote..."a crossed slab", that is all that is detailed for this panel...how lazy!!..anyway when i realised this is what i was looking at it made sense. What we have is the main section of a christian cross built into the wall. I'll post a couple of pics for you to look at. Its interesting to see how even though we have the change in carving designs, that at this point in history the cup and ring motif must still have had some meaning behind it, being on a cross, does this mean the religous idea behind cup and ring markings is still the main theory.?.. The strange thing is that it is an important item for this area, but i find it amazing that the person who logged the find 10 years ago did not tell the farmer what he had on his land or that when logging his find he failed to record the details properly.

A stone in a wall

2006-05-09T01:37:00.000+02:00

Hi Folks, On my travels on saturday i stopped off at Torhouskie stone circle, stopped in the little car park, as i was getting out of the car to stretch my legs i noticed a stone, in the wall...with what looked and felt like a cup!! take a look..

Another Cracky for that Chappell chappie

2006-05-08T22:48:00.000+02:00

Mr C, Heres another fissure for you to ponder, this time on the Eastwoods Rough Carving (now named ‘The Morphing Stone’). On the last visit we uncovered the vast majority of the stone, mainly thanks to Fitz’s rather sharp knife. One of the features that came to light was a crack on its eastern edge that went in towards the centre of the stone, interestingly, it lined up exact with the enclosing groove. So, on this particular carving, you’ve got a natural bowl with a cup countersunk into it & a groove continuing the direction of a fissure….. Believe it or not, a salmon had also found its way into the blue bucket ;-)

NEW rock art site in Galloway!!!

2006-05-07T11:21:00.000+02:00

Hi Folks, I thought i would let you all know that yesterday i was able to confirm a NEW rock art site in Galloway to add to the list of sites. It is an area near the Isle of Whithorn, at Boyach Farm. As we all know the rock carvings in the Whithorn area are very well known, so it is very pleasing to be able to report on this new site. I am at present working on a report for Discovery & Excavation Scotland, but thought you would like to hear about my progress so far. Hopefully the pics will be added to BRAC very soon, but i will add a picture here so you can see the carvings. The area itself sits above the Isle of Whithorn with excellent views, the area is covered in gorse bushes, so i believe that this location could provide further carvings, we shall wait and see on that matter. But enjoy the picture. Brian

2006-05-02T23:40:00.000+02:00

I was just looking at Brian's pic of Bombie and wondered how a drawing would capture the "flow" of that stone . It would have to be exceptional .

Aboriginal Rock Art on the Discovery Channel..

2006-04-30T14:15:00.000+02:00

Hi Folks, We were watching a show on the discovery channel this morning all about the extreme conditions in Australia. The start of the show was all about aboriginal rock art around the Ayres Rock area or as it is now known Uluru, its aboriginal name. I am sure i have seen some of these carvings before when looking at some of the work done by Maarten. I was able to grab some pics from the screen, how sad am i?...thank god i have sky+, lol..anyway here they are.

Rock Art and Salmon Rivers?

2006-04-27T13:48:00.000+02:00

Just reading a great little book about rock art on the NW coast of canada where they have cup marked boulders, cups and rings, and spirit figure carvings. Interestingly the carved rocks are linked with the seasonal salmon runs along the coast, where they enter river systems and at salmon fishing and spawning sites further in land. It made me wonder about the Yorkshire rock art located on the hills overlooking rivers like the Wharfe, Nidd, Washburn and Esk, which all were/are salmon + trout rivers. Are there any rivers in other areas that could be added to this list?

Lyon

2006-04-24T23:12:00.000+02:00

Hello folks , Went to the RA and megalithic monument desert of Glen Lyon on Sunday to see if I could find anything . Managed to find a couple of marked rocks , just cups and a single cup marked slab by a shieling , Graeme would like the Mckenzie association . Lower down was more interesting a rock shelter with a rock covered in sheep shit but bearing 19 well preserved cups . To have engraved the cups the engraver would have had to face the away from the spectacular view and face the shelter wall , good echo in the immediate vicinity

Maximalism at EastWoods

2006-04-24T20:07:00.000+02:00

Richard sent me an e-mail on Friday inviting me to join the wonderful Mr Bennett and himself at Eastwoods to have a look at their lovely discovery, have a hunt for any more carved stones and witness Mr P. Bryan from EH apply his astounding photogramic tricknological techniques to the stone. Who could refuse such an invitation? This morning, after a bit of a lairy start, teenage daughters - don't ask! I set off for Nidderdale. The daughter thing resolved, I drove south in brilliant sunshine. After crossing the foggy Vale of York I ascended into the foothills of the Pennines and promptly got lost - nowt new for me and a quick call to Rich and Paul got me back on track. After meeting up with Paul and Rich we checked out a couple of nearby bits and bobs including a carved stone and some interesting earthworks and then took off for the new stone. The stone is in a field that is littered with large gritstone boulders and earthfasts, the field is on an east facing slope of Nidderdale and is surrounded by pasture on three sides and a beautiful ancient birch woodland. At this point I could bang on about the lovely carved stone but I won't. Its Paul and Rich's discovery and they can give a far more accurate account of the stone than I ever could. What I will say is that it was an absolute joy to watch these two fellas doing the business trying to decipher all the various elements of this lovely stone, tracing and debating every little line of the stone, watching the stone as the light changes, dancing around the stone chasing shadows and then dropping to their knees to feel their way along possible grooves. It was an absolute pleasure to witness. Sitting watching these two lovely blokes trying to get to grips with this stone sort of sums up what this rock art malarky is all about and illustrates how terms like 'professional' and 'amateur' are pretty much meaningless when it comes to the discovery and recording of British Rock Art. RICH the MAXIMALIST Maximalist (n) opposite to minimalist Every time I've been out with Rich he has astounded me with a new piece of kit, a camera, monopod, tripod, water sprayer, you name it Rich has uncomplainingly lugged it up to a site and tried it out. Give him his due, his dogged determination to experiment with new kit is extremely admirable and somehow, in a way I can't really explain, seems to be a very British approach. Today, Rich out-did himself, staggering away from his car with all his usual paraphenalia plus a full size spade plus a very large blue bucket. (To our shame neither Paul or I offered to help him with his burden but chose instead to take the piss....sorry Rich. In hindsight the big blue bucket was an excellent idea). I gotta say, I had a crackin' day. cheers Rich and Paul

Rock art but NOT rock art....?

2006-04-24T10:46:00.001+02:00

Hi Folks, Suzanne & myself went for a long walk yesterday (8miles)..along the southern upland way in Galloway, we found what could be described as cup marks, everywhere..... I have taken a few pictures of one outcrop to show you, but although they do look good, i am afraid they seem no more than volcanic bubbles, or pebble holes..(could be wrong though,lol), some do look good, but with the lack of peck marks, i am sure they are natural. Some seem to be in perfect order, one rock had 3 large cups, in a perfect triangular shape, that made me think...but again no peck marks..It does seem to prove that when it comes to cup marks, we need to be careful.. These are some of the pictures i took.. Although not cup marks, still interesting. Brian

Gardoms Edge figure

2006-04-23T16:36:00.000+02:00

Howdo peeps, Just wondered, are any of you aware of a possible carved figure at Gardoms Edge, I can’t find anything about it on the net. http://www.megalithic.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=My_eGallery&file=index&do=showpic&pid=20288 As always its difficult to tell from a photo, but it looks figure-ish. Be it manmade, or natural it looks a little cutie ;-)

EastwoodsII

2006-04-14T23:24:00.000+02:00

Howdo peeps, Just in case you’re wondering what George is on about on the ‘Eastwoods’ post, Paul & mi sen were out stone bovering on Monday & Mr B sniffed out a rather wonderful, but weird panel. It was turf covered apart from about 20cm of a curving groove, so we had to excavate it. Whilst unearthing it, I think between us we must have said “this is f-ing weird” about 200 times. The bisecting grooves did kinda remind of the Hangingstones ‘water boatmen’, but it is a bit of an oddun, especially the handle & central cup . You’ll have to excuse the rather crappy drawing, this is my 2nd version & I think Pauls on his 4th . Neither of us are really happy that we’ve managed to capture the true motif. Hopefully, we will have by the end of next week.

Eastwoods

2006-04-14T21:39:00.000+02:00

Rich and Paul . What a great find .Splendid panel .

Reasons to make cupmarks (No.1)

2006-04-06T13:52:00.000+02:00

Found these links to images and detials about why cup marks are still being created in the Hawaiian islands. worth a look for the figurative rock art as well . http://www.parentspress.com/ffhawaiirockart.html http://www.instanthawaii.com/cgi-bin/hawaii?Hikes.petroglyph http://www.hawaiiweb.com/hawaii/html/sites/puu_loa_petroglyphs.html

Topcon , photomodeler etc

2006-03-27T17:48:00.000+02:00

Rich , any worthwhile results from using the progs. ?

Spiral or Lichen?

2006-03-25T11:03:00.000+01:00

Hi Folks, This is one of those 'way out there' things, but after being at Long Meg on tuesday night and noticing that although the stone has quite a bit of lichen on it, you can still see the carvings using light, even the faintest of scratches etc. I then thought back to Castlerigg when i tried to find the spiral using light, no matter what i did i could not see the spiral, my point being that if i can pick up the faintest carvings at Long Meg then surely i could see the spiral at Castlerigg no matter how faint it was. So my question is, the spiral at Castlerigg, is it a carving or is it lichen?, you may think this is a stupid thought, but when we are at Townhead in november we found something that i wish i had taken pictures and even collected a couple of samples. in an area near to some of the carvings there is a large mound, which has round stones as you might see in a burial cairn, but the strangest thing is that all those stone were covered in lichen, but the lichen grew in a certain way, forming perfect spirals, everytime. My next thought is that is it possible that the spiral at Castlerigg, is it a lichen formation, which indeed might be possible to do a rubbing of it, especially if it is proud of the rock surface. This is not what i think, just throwing thoughts around.. Brian, (Photo of rubbing by Stan Beckensall added by Jan. Click to enlarge!)

Rock Art and the Shaman

2006-03-23T13:51:00.000+01:00

following on from the chat about the Bahn lectures, i just noticed another relevant book is due for publication, Rock Art and the Shaman (Topics in Contemporary Archaeology Series), Thomas Dowson, Richard Bradley & Sue Alcock, editors. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 052153612X. Not yet published - advance orders taken. it will be interesting to see what they have to say on the subject. This was on the Oxbow books website, where they still have 'Rock Art of the Dreamtime' by Josephine Flood, for £6.95. this is a real bargain and full of information about rock art in general. http://www.oxbowbooks.com/bookinfo.cfm/ID/18809

Photos vs rubbings

2006-03-19T22:04:00.000+01:00

I know it's an old chestnut, but do rubbings always show more detail than photos? I've just seen Brian's new photo of Long Meg on tma, and on comparing it with Stan's drawing in British Prehistoric RA, I'm in two minds about what's going on in the lower left side. Does the photo show more than there is on the drawing? Brian, any chance of you bunging a higher res version up here for clarification? Also, how many candlepower are you up to now? ;)

Bahn Lectures

2006-03-18T21:53:00.000+01:00

Paul Bahn finishes a series of six Rhind lectures” Art on the Rocks” tomorrow at the National Museum of Scotland . I managed to get to three on the Saturday . All were hugely informative ,entertaining thought provoking and at times very funny . The one that would be of interest to most was “The Emperor’s New Clothes “.I won’t twitter too much so here’s wee synopsis. It appears that there is not that much opposition , other than Bahn himself , to the David Lewis Williams’ shamanic hypothesis but he pointed out that a majority of Neurophysiologists and Ice Age experts do not accept it and that in South Africa the experts on the ethnography of the tribes cited disagree entirely with him as does the “Stan” of South Africa, Bert Woodhouse . More importantly Tribesmen when asked their opinion on the carvings never mention shaman ,this applies to other continents as well as Africa.and oddly an area that provides some positive ethnography to the theory has no RA. . A great iconoclastic attack that might help redress the balance . The theory has replaced the old hunting and sympathetic magic type explanations and likes lots of archaeo mantras it makes for lazy thinking . Nobody is denying the importance or existence of shamanism to many cultures but we have no evidence for it being an explanation for RA here , and as Paul would have it anywhere else . For me the Lewis –Williams books were stimulating reads that will probably influence thinking in this area for a generation but like a lot of big archaeo ideas the cracks were visible a while ago and are getting bigger.

Rock Art Treason??

2006-03-08T18:15:00.000+01:00

Howdo folks, I know this has probably been discussed many a time on various forums, but what do you think of rocks with markings like this? Its listed as 82 in ‘Prehistoric Rock Art of County Durham, Swaledale & Wensleydale’, Stan & Tim elude to some element of natural erosion, but state that some cups appear to link grooves (or summat like that). Having been out RA hunting with a geologist, I’ve become a total sceptic (I was just sceptical before) about such cups, grooves & channels being manmade. I know you’ll quite often find definite carvings lower on such rocks, but just wondered about your thoughts on the channels etc. 6 members of the N&D Rock Art Proj had differing opinions as you might imagine.

Millstone Burn's Little Gem

2006-03-04T18:29:00.000+01:00

A couple of pictures of Millstone Burn's little gem, Beckensall 3a, which gladdened our hearts yesterday out recording on a very cold and windy day. Just below 3a, further down the ridge to the east near more rock art, we sat for lunch on the (more) sheltered bank of a large circular depression and discussed its origins. Clearly not a natural feature the raised bank surrounds the hollow with an 'entrance' on the south side. Against it being remains of a house are the depth of the hollow which carries both reeds and standing water and its exposed situation. Who would want to live up there in an artificial pond. Just to the north on the other side of the boundary fence there is a similar feature in the heather, although nothing is recorded in Keys to the Past. My best guess for this feature is a bell pit although it is not clear what was being mined and when? Similarly described bell pits are common on Alnwick Moor and at Callaly, presumably for coal extraction. Any ideas folks?

Yeah, but is it art??

2006-02-28T13:40:00.000+01:00

This is an old chestnut, but it's easy to start seeing these ancient rock carvings from a modern perspective as 'ART' with cups and multiple rings as the best examples etc. This kind of superficial imposition is not very helpful in any real study of the rock markings and attempts to move the study forward. A while back Paul Frodsham reviewed the Boughey/Vickerman West Yorks rock carvings book, for the prehistoric society, and urged researchers to take the next step beyond taking endless photographs of the carvings, ie to start looking at frameworks for interpreting the sites. We have had over 100 years of photographs and drawings, so is anyone now looking at the bigger picture? Link to Paul Frodsham's book review http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prehistoric/reviews/04_06_boughey.htm

Covered but not forgotten

2006-02-27T23:56:00.000+01:00

Hi Folks, Its great to see the pictures of one of the best rock art panels ever carved, Broughton Mains 2, this panel matches any panel found anywhere in the uk..Thanks to Maarten we have the pictures to look at, the site was covered up in 1990 to protect this valuable group of carvings. Perhaps one day permission will again be given to take a little look, until then lets enjoy the fantastic pictures.. http://rockartuk.fotopic.net/p19587936.html (Jan: Picture added; click tumbnail to enlarge)

Night excursion with Hob

2006-02-25T13:02:00.000+01:00

Hob emailed me some impressive artificially-lit images of his home-made rock art and phoned in response to my last post about help with photographic techniques. Realising that his obsession with rock art is even more advanced than my own, I rang him the following week and he kindly agreed to accompany me on a night-time excursion to Millstone Burn. I had been practicing all week with some rocks in the house and was desperate to try the real McCoy. It was a bitterly cold night with clouds continuously covering the star-lit sky (impressive away from the light pollution of the city) but at least there was no rain or snow. We were armed with my jumped-up camera-phone (Canon Ixus) and Hob's more professional-looking, mega-pixel beast, tripods and an array of light producing devices including a camera flash, big lamps and a small head-light. I wanted to see if artificial lighting could reveal some motifs that we had been unable to see in the day, even in oblique winter sunlight. One such panel is 6d where Stan has illustrated a complex, three-ringed structure around a cup. We had a good try on this panel but the motif still refused to reveal itself either to the eye or camera although we did get the smallest hint of a groove. Maybe this motif is a sub-millimeter carving which can only be seen by rubbing. Perhaps it has been greatly reduced over recent years by erosion. We tried a combination of long exposure times and illumination of the rock surface with lateral flash and/or torch-light. Painting the rock surface with directional light with the shutter held open for several seconds produces some great effects. Lots of shots don't work but with digital photography at least you are only limited by battery power and data storage. For comparison I have included two photos of 2h; the top one taken by Hob with flash and torch illumination and the second (here) taken by me using flash from two different directions. The obliquely-directed artificial light greatly improves the profile and helps to cut out the lichen which obscures much of the rock art in day light. It takes away some of the difficulties posed by poor natural light and having no control over the direction of the sun. Some interesting effects and colour-combinations are also possible and Hob has posted one of 6c where the rock shines like gold against a navy-blue sky. This and other of our photos have been posted on TMA. On the down-side though, it was very cold, the panels can be hard to find even when we thought we knew where they were, and rough ground is more difficult to cross. The highlight for me was seeing a shooting star burning up below the cloud level in a shower of sparks. "Meteorite over rock art"; now that would have been some picture!

Old Photo

2006-02-19T23:25:00.000+01:00

I was trawling the archives of the Newcastle Society of Antiquities, and found an article on cup marked stones from the Birtley area of Northumberland, from 1883. Surprisingly, instead of the illustrations I'm used to seeing from the likes of Mr Tate and Mr Bruce, there were a couple of photographs. The second was mostly iron age querns, but the first (this one here) is undoubtedly portable rock art found in the walls of Iron age structures. Is this possibly the earliest photograph of prehistorc rock art? If not, I'd love to hear of others. (Jan: Click tumbnail for full size photo)

Possible NEW rock art find!!!

2006-02-19T21:37:00.000+01:00

Hi Folks, After doing our Milton project today we decided to take a look around a beach so that a certain young lady could look for some pebbles...lol. I decided to take a wonder round looking at the rocks....and here is what i found!!! Let me know what you think, i am certain...looks right, felt right!

Traprain Law, more than just one look a like...

2006-02-14T02:10:00.000+01:00

Hi Folks, Just noticed after seeing the pictures of Traprain Law, and looking at the photos i took of Burnswark Hillfort, how similar they look, again looking very similar to Dunadd. Brian (Jan: Brian refers to: http://rockartuk.fotopic.net/c858716.html)

R.A symposium Bristol

2006-02-13T18:12:00.000+01:00

This looks like might be a wonderful weekend .Can't make it myself grrrr. <https://www.bris.ac.uk/archanth/continuing/conf>

Stan's Newest Book

2006-02-12T22:09:00.000+01:00

Hi Folks, Received a message from Stan that his latest book: Place Names and Field Names of Northumberland was published last Friday by Tempus. I'm sure the names of fields with rock art like Hare Law Crags, Snook Bank, Lemington Hill and hundred others will be nicely explained! Cheers, Jan

Homework

2006-02-12T17:52:00.000+01:00

Tertia gave me some homework this week on the Northumberland & Durham rock art project. At least it beats going out in the rain. It's the last remaining panel we are recording from Snook Bank, although there were still a few we couldn't find in the field. The stone is now in custody of the landowners and was originally recorded by Stan as a portable, reused stone from a disturbed burial mound in the NE of the area. It is panel 5f in the Beckensall Archive (http://rockart.ncl.ac.uk/panel_detail.asp?pi=463). The rock shows a cup of about 5cm diameter surrounded by a double ring (10 and 16cm diameter) and another two cups, one connected to the ringed cup by a groove. Our team has now moved about 1km west to Millstone Burn and are likely to be there for some time. If any photography buffs out there would be able to advise on the use of oblique lighting or oblique flash for use in the field that would be of interest. The visualisation of rock art in the field is often a problem and we can't always wait for the sun.

Cup Marks upon Tyne

2006-02-11T19:29:00.000+01:00

Just thought I would try out this new fangled blog thing. So here I go: The water-level was low and the tide out last week, and George (the collie) and I were browsing along the exposed river bed of the Tyne just below Close House, west of Wylam, him looking for sticks (and dead fish) and me for Neolithic hand-axes. The latter were in their usual short supply. In the river bed we came across a possible cup-marked water-worn cobble face up in the river bed (see attached photo). It appears to be at least superficially similar to the one found at Allen Banks (with photos in the Beckensall Archive http://rockart.ncl.ac.uk/panel_detail.asp?pi=797) and now in the Museum of Antiquities. I will try to get there soon to compare it directly although I have the horrible feeling they might just tell me it's an eroded half-brick. As we all know, cup marks of this type are not always artificially made and natural erosion is clearly possible in this case and situation as the cobble has clearly been some time in the water which is still tidal at this point. Meanwhile this find makes a great addition for my growing rock-art shrine but as it is a true portable, I am likely to have it about my person to show you at our next meeting. As there are a large number of stones of similar size on the Tyne river-bed I will probably be lucky to ever encounter another. George has agreed to accompany me on another foray soon, when situations are suitable. He would dearly love one of those carved reindeer-bone spear-heads but I would happily settle for a 9th century gold coin.

MIlton Rock Art Project

2006-02-03T19:28:00.000+01:00

On Saturday 28th of January 2006 i started work on a new project based around Milton farm near Kirkcudbright.I made contact with Mr Picken the farm owner after meeting him through a work related item, asking him for permission to look over the area. The area of Milton farm has been the subject of a number of various investigations over the years with the most recent works done by the like of Morris, Van Hoek and Naddair. Unfortunately due to the confusion over the numbering of panels this has now resulted in the exact record of rock art panels at Milton being incorrect. Milton farm is situated near to the army base at Dundrennan and also backs onto the fields of Townhead farm. Also close to Milton we have the famous rock art at High Banks, Newlaw Hill, Low Banks, Galtway, Balmae, Milton Parks and others, which gives you an idea of how important this area of Dumfries & Galloway must have been to our ancestors. This project with the help of Suzanne, Jan & Gus will attempt to correctly identify all the known panels and also discover any possible new panels, which we believe a possible new panel was discovered at part of the site known as Milton quarry, (top picture). Most of the known rock art panels are located in the fields behind and near to Milton house and bungalow, with some panels also located near to the farm itself. The number of documented rock art panels at this area is thought to be more than twenty. In the coming weeks and months we hope to produce the most accurate record of rock art ever made at Milton.

Mesolithic cups?

2006-02-01T23:58:00.000+01:00

In the lovely PRANYM book, the mention is made (first time I've seen such in print) of the idea that the simple cup mark may predate more complex motifs to such an extent that some of them may have been made in the mesolithic. I'm intrigued by this idea as I habitually keep an eye out for possible mesolithic sites in the landscape when I'm out. It's sort of based on the idea that there may have been some kind of oral/folkloric tradition reagrding ancestral sites. It's would be a fairly functional thing, as it would be a way for a preliterate, but domesticated society to record good places to stop off when out hunting. Does that make any sense? I doesn't go anyway towards explaining what the heck the cups were put there for, but given of the global distribution of cups (and grooves), it make san awful lot of sense to me when I see someone arguing that this means they must stretch back to a time when human behaviour wasn't as culturally differentiated ( in a global sense). I don't know if any of the English speaking academic RA researchers have mooted the idea in print, though I suspect some of them think that late neolithic/bronze age is a bit of a conservativly recent date for all british RA. But you know what tehy're like, cards close to chests an all (-; On the tma forum, George mentioned lithc scatters at Torbhlaren, are these mesolithic? Anyone else know of any where I could find out more about RA and flinty finds?

Enhanced basin?

2006-01-20T22:31:00.000+01:00

Hi folks, This is a bit of a long shot, and not particularly inspiring, but on a visit to the hills this week, Jacqui and I found a suspiciously large possible cup in Coquetdale, Northumberland. I guess it might be one of those 'Enhanced natural features' that you hear about. Apart from obvious peck marks, how would you be able to tell? I couldn't make my mind up, and need to go back for a proper look as we were only there for a couple of minutes. I notice Rockandy is on this list, if you read this, fancy a jaunt up there Mr Andy? Local folklore has it that there is a 'Druidical rock basin' in the vicinity. I'll post the fruits of research on tma if anyone wants a bit more of the detail.

IoM RA (again)

2006-01-19T00:20:00.000+01:00

I've scanned in the table of IoM rock art sites discussed earlier and sent copies to Brian and Jan. If anyone else wants one, let me know. Because of the difficulties of working with PPS (which prints very close to the spine), the table is the only thing which I can send - it works reasonably ok because it is printed landscape but, even here, I've had to add a few manuscript notes. Here are some points from the rest of the article on IoM RA

More than 20 rock sites were known when Morris listed the 6 in his book.
0.1 sites per square km makes IoM a rock art hot spot (cf 0.5/sq km for Yorkshire West Riding)
All are examples of the passage grave or the cup mark styles
Most are in the S of the island with a particular concentration at the extreme south ("The Sound") - 9 sites and 27 panels (mainly cupmarks)
Most are at 50m to 150m OD

Leslie

Picked up a nice little book!!

2006-01-17T20:46:00.000+01:00

Hi Folks, I picked up a nice little rock art book, Ancient Rock Carvings from GB & Ireland by Chris Mansell. Its a cracker of a book, basically looks at the various designs within rock art carvings and talks about the regional links within the designs. I would imagine we all think about why it is that a certain design is used in one area but not another or why you find a certain design in only one region.. Good Book.

Castlerigg spiral - is it real?

2006-01-14T00:43:00.000+01:00

Just noticed the laser scans of the stones at castlerigg circle on the Durham university website, but there is no trace of the spiral on stone 11. The folks at Megalithics.com also photographed this stone, with angled lighting, but again no spiral. Yet there is a photo on TMA showing traces of this faint carving. Any thoughts on this ? http://www.dur.ac.uk/prehistoric.art/btrar/castlerigg3d.html

What can you see?

2006-01-03T00:23:00.000+01:00

Hi Folks, Just wondering if anyone can see something in the picture i took?.. let me know what you think. Brian.

Congratulations Hob & Jackie

2005-12-22T23:58:00.000+01:00

Hi Folks, I am sure you would all like to congratulate Hob & Jackie on their new arrival to the Hobson household, her name is Niamh Rowan Catherine Hobson, and let us all welcome a new member to the rock art family. All the best to you both, have a great christmas.

Isle of Man Rock Art

2005-12-22T18:29:00.000+01:00

This year's (Vol 71) Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society (PPS) has an article "The Cronk yn How Stone and the Rock Art of the Isle of Man", the latter part being an inventory table of 56 rock art sites complete with 8 fig grid refs, descriptions, etc. A big increase on the 6 sites in the Morris Galloway book! There's also a general location map and some analysis of the art. No big spectacular sites but a useful addition to the database. Shout if you want more info. Leslie

The West Yorkshire Rock Art Book

2005-12-19T21:20:00.000+01:00

More bloody books!!!!! I have just spoken to Mr Boughey who informed me that although the Book is now out of print he still has copies at home. The deal is - £14 for the book and £4.50 p&p One cheque for £14 made out to Wakefield MDC plus One cheque for £4.50 made out to K. Boughey. I do not want to put his home address on a public website but if you drop me a line I will happily pass the details on to you

North York Moors Rock Art Book

2005-12-14T22:37:00.000+01:00

Hello rock art Folk, The good news is that the book is now available. It came out on december 1st, but i only found out last week! A courtesy copy arrived on monday and i am pleased with the way it has turned out. Lots of photo's and drawings and at nearly 300 pages its quite a hefty book. The carved stones on the North York Moors have not been published in any detail so hopefully this book will be a good introduction to the area. Regards Graeme Here's a link to the book on the Tempus Publishing site http://www.tempus-publishing.com/bookdetails.php?isbn=0752433482