Issue No 13: Spring 2015

Rock Articles

Issue No.13: Spring 2015

Dear All,
Welcome to the Spring 2015 issue of Rock Articles. The last six months have been a busy time for rock art, with new discoveries and
excavations. Of course all the new information generated will take time to process so we will have to be patient and wait for the
October issue for the full details of these. Meanwhile this issue provides some food for thought with a geological perspective on the
origins and creation of rock art from and a fascinating observation on the possible role of the sun. Enjoy the summer before the
bracken hides the rock art!

Kate
April 2015
kesharpe@outlook.com

Contents:

New British Discoveries: Cumbria and Northumberland ............................................................................ 1

British Rock Art News: two excavations and a new interpretation panel .................................................... 3

World Rock Art on the Web: international news and links ......................................................................... 5

A Geological origin for Rock Art?: by Mike Howgate ............................................................................ 7

Rock Art Abstracts: headlines from the journals ....................................................................................... 9

Out of the Shadows: by Lisa-Elen Meyering ....................................................................................... 10

Rock Art Reads ....................................................................................................................................... 11

Dates for the Diary................................................................................................................................. 12

NEW BRITISH DISCOVERIES

After a dearth in discoveries in the last issue, we now have a number to report with two in south Northumberland and a number in
the Lake District. As always, grid references are not included but the locations of all panels references are recorded on the relevant
HER database.

Wallridge, Northumberland

Local man Tony Metcalf was out walking his dog on farmland behind Wallridge village in Northumberland when he came across
these cup and ring markings. Tony said, I've walked this land for over thirty years and have never seen these markings before. He
suspects the marked stone has been exposed because, unfortunately, the landowner is using a mechanical digger to extract stone
from a rocky outcrop. It is hoped that the panel can now be recorded before it is lost to any further earth moving.

The Wallridge panel with Sookie providing a doggy-sized scale. Images courtesy of Tony Metcalf.

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Issue No 13: Spring 2015

Ponteland, Northumberland
This large, decorated boulder was discovered in a field near Ponteland to the north west of Newcastle Upon Tyne during an
evaluation prior to the start of a planning appeal. Unfortunately the rock art (on the lower side of the boulder) was not
identified before the stone was removed by machine. It is now at the Great North Museum. The evaluation concluded that the
boulder was not in its original location, possibly moved to the edge of the field away from the plough, although it has suffered
some plough damage (see image). The nearest recorded neighbouring rock art panel is at Throckley Bank which was found in a
similar context (see http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/era/section/panel/overview.jsf?eraId=1365 )

Decorated boulder removed to make way for building development near

Ponteland. Image courtesy of Northumberland County Council.

Detail of the Ponteland stone (now outside the Great North Museum)
showing cup and ring motifs with peck marks, and plough damage along
the lower edge.

Ambleside area, Cumbria

A new cluster of rock art panels has recently emerged in an area to the north of the village of Ambleside in the central Lake
District. Previously, a panel with around seven cup marks was known close to the footpath to Scandale. A second had been
identified at a lower elevation in Rydal Park, this one having around 30 cups (see CWAAS1 Newsletter No. 67, Summer 2011).
Now several more have been found: a further eight panels at four sites were reported by Paul and Barbara Brown in the
CWAAS Newsletter No 77, Autumn 2014. Additional panels have also been located in the area by Peter Style. The new finds
include several substantial outcrops with multiple cups, dumb-bells, and grooves.
Please note: These new panels are all on private land.
1

Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society

Section of cup-marked outcrop in the central Lake District. Image

courtesy of Peter Style.

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Issue No 13: Spring 2015

BRITISH ROCK ART NEWS

Projects, publications, and people
New interpretation panel for Gainford Stone
Very few rock art panels in Britain have interpretation
boards but only one will be blessed by the Bishop of
Jarrow! A new notice at St Marys Church, Gainford,
includes information about the Gainford rock art panel
and will be the focus of a dedication ceremony next
month.
The panel, which is on display at the Bowes Museum,
was found in the stables of Gainford House, although
there are no detailed records of its discovery. It may
have been used as a cist cover. It has a complex
arrangement of cups, rings, and grooves on the upper
surface, and cup marks and grooves on the opposite
side.
Gainford stone on ERA database:
archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/era/section/panel/overview.jsf?er
aId=2034
St Marys Church website: www.thisbeautifullife.co.uk

Altogether Archaeology back at Long Meg

In Issue 9 (Spring 2103) we reported on surveys carried out by Altogether
Archaeology volunteers, a group developed by the North Pennines AONB
Partnership, and funded by the Heritage Lottery. The participants investigated both
the stones of Long Meg stone circle and potential features beneath the soil. This
led to an excavation which took place in March with the help of Archaeological
Services, Durham University. Three trenches were opened to investigate the
relationship between the stone circle and a large, adjacent enclosure ditch. The
discoveries produced much head scratching amongst the archaeologists! You may
have caught a glimpse of the activities in a recent episode of the BBCs Countryfile
when local lass Helen Skelton paid a visit. The results of the investigation are now
being processed and we plan to bring you a more detailed account in the Autumn
issue.

Cornish rock art: carbon dates and quartz

A report by Andy M. Jones and Freya Lawson-Jones in the Autumn 2104 issue (no. 78)
of PAST, the newsletter of the Prehistoric Society, presents the results of investigations
into Cornish rock art. Small scale excavations were carried out by the Cornwall
Excavation Society around two carved stones forming the Hendraburnick megalithic
tomb or quoit. Carbon dates were obtained from charcoal: 2571-2350 cal BC for the
larger stone, and 1742-1610 cal BC for the smaller. Cleaning of the larger stone
revealed 60 cup marks clustered along the upper edge, with an unusual series of
radiating grooves. The smaller stone had a smaller number of cup marks scattered on
its upper surface. Both blocks are epidiorite a type of stone used to make stone axes
and both have natural, axe-like shapes. The larger stone was set on a platform of
slates, one of which had a cup mark; the underlying slate bedrock was also decorated
with cup marks. A number of water-rolled quartz blocks formed an edge around the
slate platform, and large amounts of fractured quartz pieces were recovered around
the site (reminiscent of excavations at Torblharan, near Kilmartin by a different Andy
Jones!) The full article can be downloaded from
www.prehistoricsociety.org/publications/publication/past_78/
The group have plans to try a photogrammetric technique to record the art and we
hope to bring you an update in the October issue.

Cup-marked stone at Hendraburnick showing cup marks and radiating groove.

Images courtesy of Andy Jones.

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Issue No 13: Spring 2015

Tynedale Archaeology launch talks programme

Tynedale North of the Wall Archaeology Group launched their talks
programme with a double-header featuring Stan Beckensall and Pete
Schofield (Oxford Archaeology North). Pete presented the main findings of
the Northumberland National Park/Altogether Archaeology sponsored
volunteer surveys of the rich Bronze Age landscape at Ravensheugh Crags
and the enigmatic stone row at Standingstone Rigg. Stan delighted the 50
strong audience at Hexham Abbey with his personal review of 50 years of
community archaeology ranging from excavations on the Sussex Downs to
the Blawearie Cairn in the Northumberland Cheviots. A report on the
Standingstone Rigg survey can be accessed at
www.tynedalearchaeologygroup.btck.co.uk/articles/StandingstoneRigg and a
detailed summary of the report on Ravensheugh Crags, where over 30 cupmarked stones have now been identified in close proximity to a number of
probable burial cairns, will shortly be available from the group. For more
information contact tynedalearchaeology@gmail.com
The next talk, by Aron Mazel and Myra Giesen of Newcastle University, will
outline the CARE project on the preservation of our rock art heritage. It will
also take place at Hexham Abbey on September 3rd at 7.30pm. For full
details and bookings email tynedalearchaeology@gmail.com.

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Survey underway at Standing Stone Rigg

Issue No 13: Spring 2015

WORLD ROCK ART on the WEB

News from Egypt, Australia, Asia, USA, and India

Search for life on Mars leads to possible explanation for the
swimming figures in the Sahara.
In Rock Articles No. 12 we highlighted the paintings of Elisabeth Pauli and
the work of German ethnographer Leo Frobenius at the Cave of Swimmers
in the Eastern Sahara, and their connections with the film The English
Patient. Now it seems the cave and its art are providing valuable clues for
scientists attempting to understand changes climate in this region and to
detect life on Mars!
The 6,500 year old paintings in the cave show people swimming and diving
during a period when south-western Egypt was much wetter and swimming
holes may have been present. Evidence for such a change in climate had
been found in the form of ancient lake beds and other geological data but
until now this pre-dated the rock art by many thousands of years. There was
no evidence of a relatively recent, semi-permanent lake that could have
served as a swimming hole for the local rock artists.

Cave of the Swimmers, Wadi Sura, Western Desert, Egypt.

Image Roland Unger, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Earlier this year a research team seeking clues to potential life on Mars visited the area to study the survival, under extreme
conditions, of rock-clinging microbes. They discovered carbonate deposits lining the walls of two neighbouring valleys about 200
km south of the Cave of the Swimmers, which they formed in shallow water along a lake shoreline. Carbon dating indicates that
the two lakes existed 8,100 and 9,400 years ago respectively closer to the time when people were decorating the caves.
Read more at: phys.org/news/2015-01-art-scientists-ancient-lakes.html
Full journal article: Marinova, M. M., A. N. Meckler, and C.P. McKay (2014). "Holocene freshwater carbonate structures in the
hyper-arid Gebel Uweinat region of the Sahara Desert (Southwestern Egypt)." Journal of African Earth Sciences 89(0): 50-55.
Urban rock art discovered in Sydney
An undeveloped urban oasis in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia has
recently given up a secret. Beneath the vegetation, on the top of a midden
site, local heritage officers discovered an ancient Aboriginal rock art site
with hand-stencils made using natural ochres, and images of eels, a
spearhead, and a crescent-shaped moon. Although people had lived close
by for decades they had not recognised the art, perhaps mistaking it for
more recent graffiti. The site was only discovered when Sydney Water
investigated the discovery of a traditional fishing hook found in the soil.
The art has not yet been scientifically dated.
Read more at: www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-20/ancient-aboriginal-rock-art-sitediscovered-in-sydney/5907530
Hand stencil discovered in Sydney suburb.
Image from ABC: Anne Barker

New analysis of Asian rock art has global implications

New research published recently in Antiquity suggests that the first
people to arrive in Southeast Asia over 50,000 years ago brought with
them a rich tradition of rock art. Skilfully produced paintings of animals
have been found in rock shelters from southwest China to Indonesia,
as well as Thailand, Cambodia and Malaysia.
Work led by Paul Taon analysed overlapping superimpositions of
art in various styles together with scientific dating. The results show
that the earliest motifs (hand stencils and naturalistic animals) are
of late Pleistocene age and as early as those of Europe. The authors
of the paper believe that the similar form of the earliest painted
motifs in Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia suggests that they are
the product of a shared underlying behaviour, although the
difference in context (rockshelters) indicates that experiences in
deep caves cannot have been their inspiration.

Rock painting depicting a catfish at a Phnom Kulen site near Siem

Reap, Cambodia. Image: Noel Hidalgo Tan

The new findings have profound implications for the debate about the origins of art-making, supporting ideas that it began in
Africa rather than Europe. Read more at: https://app.griffith.edu.au/news/2014/11/26/ancient-rock-art-discovery-across-asia/
and www.phnompenhpost.com/national/rock-art-origins-reappraised
Full journal article: Paul S.C. Taon, Noel Hidalgo Tan, Sue OConnor, et al. (2014). The global implications of the early
surviving rock art of greater Southeast Asia. Antiquity, 88, pp 1050-1064 doi:10.1017/S0003598X00115315

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Issue No 13: Spring 2015

Vandalism in Utah
A 20 year-old artist from Utah has been speaking out about the vandalism
of nearby rock art panels. Jonathon Bailey visited his first prehistoric site
aged just six and over the past 13 years he has spent many hours
wandering Utahs remote San Rafael Swell finding new sites.
Creating rock art is an extension of nature, said Bailey, Youve got an
artistic and a natural force sort of blended into a single set of images.
Recently, however, Bailey has noticed a disturbing trend of increased
incidents of vandalism. Its really almost murder, he said, Youre killing
something thats existed for thousands of years.
Vandalism on the Rochester Panel shows the problem has
been ongoing for decades. Image: Geoff Liesik, KSL-TV.

Read more and hear what Bailey has to say in a news report
at: http://bit.ly/1H1yiJk

Threat to rock art in southern India

There is concern that rock paintings discovered in the small village of
Kilvalai, 55 km from Puducherry in South India may be under threat. The
paintings, on a small rock called Rattapparai depict scenes with human
figures riding and leading horses, and standing in small groups, some
figures with outstretched hands. Similar paintings are also found in
several neighbouring villages.
K.T. Gandhirajan, an independent art researcher, said The paintings on
rocks of Kilvalai are found in three rocky areas and painted in red-ochre.
That might be 3000 years old. It is believed that a few symbols of
paintings are similar to that found in the Indus Valley civilisation.
Illegal mining in the area presents a significant threat, and the growth of
micro-organisms is damaging pigments. Art lovers and researchers have
called for intervention by authorities to preserve the paintings.
Read more at: www.thehindu.com/news/cities/puducherry/preserve-rock-art-forposterity-experts/article6671769.ece

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Rock art at Kilvalai village in Villupuram district.

Photo: www.TheHindu.com

Issue No 13: Spring 2015

A GEOLOGICAL ORIGIN FOR ROCK ART? Part one

By Mike Howgate (Chairman, Amateur Geological Society)

In an article in Down to Earth magazine of February 2015 (Issue 90) I tried to shed some light on dendritic grooves found on
Gritstone and thickly bedded flagstone outcrops in the South Pennines which had been mentioned in the lead article by David
Shepherd and Frank Jolley of the previous issue (Down to Earth issue 89 November 2014). These are illustrated by
photographs from Buckstone, Witherns and Graining Water.
One of the suggestions was that the markings might be due to the chemical action of tree roots. However this would have
formed a radiating pattern in all directions from the bole of the tree. The channels all appeared to join up to meet a main
channel in a downslope direction a typical dendritic pattern seen in river and stream drainage development. I suggested that
this could easily be checked using a bottle of water to note the true direction of flow for each of the main and tributary arms of
the patterns.
The patterns were very similar in outline to the much more deeply etched drainage patterns seen on clints in limestone
pavement areas such as those above Malham Cove in Yorkshire. These are produced by normal erosional processes associated
with limestone dissolution due to rainwater being a dilute solution of carbonic acid and aided in part by humic acid from the
original peaty soil cover of the limestone pavement. The drainage pattern adopted is the classic dendritic pattern of high angled
tributaries leading to a main channel which takes the surface water from the upstanding block of limestone the clint, into the
major dissolution fissure the grike.
Drainage features on a similar scale, but etched into
insoluble rock, can be seen on the summit surfaces
of the granite tors of Dartmoor. Good examples are
on the summit of Birchingstone Tor (see Figure 1)
and consist of a series of frying pan-sized shallow
depressions, called Rock Basins. These are often
linked together by lips and lead down to a small but
distinct runnel which is cut into the steeply rounded
flanks of the Tor. In the nineteenth century the
fashionable explanation for these Rock Basins was
that the depressions were carved by the Druids to
catch pure rainwater which was essential for their
sacrificial libations. This Druidic explanation was
replaced by a purely geomorphological explanation
of these features in the early twentieth century.
The depressions are natural features caused by the
Figure 1. Interconnected Rock Basins on the summit of
frost shattering of the large plagioclase1 megacrysts2
Birchingstone Tor, Dartmoor, Devon.
in the granite probably in the last Ice Age. They
gradually expand as they become a place where water can collect and the diurnal freezethaw of glacial times shatters more
and more feldspar crystals and frees up the quartz crystals between them. When the summer sun could dry out the
depressions, wind easily removes the disintegrated debris. As they grow in size the basins intersect producing a lip between
them so that the higher can drain into the lower basin. The rainwater and, in winter, meltwater, could then drain down slope
from the lowest basin producing a distinct linear runnel. Freezethaw along the constantly damper line of the runnel then
gradually etched it into the surface of the granite.
A very similar process is almost certainly what produced the runnels seen
associated with several cup and ring marked boulders and rock surfaces
in Northumberland. One in particular, the so called Channel Rock at East
Lordenshaw exhibits two natural runnels (see Figure 2) and one
artificially over-deepened one (see Figure 3). The upper section of the
natural channels also exhibits a dendritic pattern which coalesces into a
single runnel as the slope of the outcrop increases. At other sites such as
at Old Bewick, cups with multiple rings have been cut across the overdeepened natural channels. It is difficult both from plan drawings and
artistically angled photographs, whose main purpose is to highlight the
rock art pattern, to get an idea of the original drainage pattern on the
rock surface which incorporates the cup and ring features. However
several that I have seen incorporate these carved Rock Art features into
the downslope flow of the originally purely natural channels indicating an
intimate connection of natural features into the original design (see
Figure 4).
Figure 2. Natural runnels on the Channel Rock, East Lordenshaw, Northumberland.
Figure 3. Late Neolithic/Bronze Age over-deepening of a runnel (the Channel) on the
Channel Rock, East Lordenshaw, Northumberland.

a series of common feldspar minerals, consisting of mixtures of sodium and calcium aluminum silicates
any crystalline grain in an igneous or metamorphic rock that is much larger than those of the surrounding matrix

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Issue No 13: Spring 2015

In my opinion the Buckstones, Graining Water and

Witherns photos showed natural drainage patterns
etched into the rock surface. Freezethaw would
attack the sandstone surface preferentially along
the lines of the drainage pattern, loosen the
sandstone grains in the process and these would
be either washed or blown away. As soon as the
pattern is initiated the process becomes selfperpetuating. These could then be artificially overdeepened by Neolithic / Bronze Age people as part
of a ritual which could incorporate cup and ring
markings.

I first became interested in cup and ring boulders

as a schoolboy member of the Cartwright
Memorial Hall Archaeology Group in Bradford in
the early 1960s which was run by the curator of
Cartwright Hall, Sidney Jackson. The ideas outlined
above came out of trips I undertook in 2014: one
to Dartmoor organised by the Geologists
Association and the other a study weekend on
Northumberland Rock Art organised by Andante
Travel and led by Dr Tertia Barnett.
Mike Howgate.

Figure 4. Cup and Ring markings incorporated into an over-deepened runnel, Old
Bewick, Northumberland.

If you would like to submit an article to Rock Articles please contact me at kesharpe@outlook.com.
Feature articles. Contributions are invited for articles on all aspects of Rock Art in Britain and Ireland, including recording
techniques, interpretation, management, presentation, education, and conservation. We are keen to hear about any community
projects, heritage initiatives, new techniques, new research, and to provide a forum for anyone with an interest in rock art.
Perhaps you have been to a conference and could write a report, or have participated in a workshop or training event? Articles
should be 750-1000 words, and should include at least two images (for which you should have permission).
New Discoveries. If you have identified any new rock art and would like to feature your find in the New Discoveries section of
Rock Articles, get in touch, with a photograph of your find. Please note that grid references will not be included in Rock Articles.
Finds should be reported to and verified by the relevant local authority HER officer.
British Rock Art News. Do you have some news about your project, or an update on a particular panel that you can fit into
less than 200 words? Why not share it RA readers?
Inspired by Rock Art? Rock art often inspires creative responses. Have cup and ring marks fired your imagination? If so wed
love to see your work!
Events and opportunities. Are you running an event that might be of interest to RA readers? Let us know about any talks,
conferences, or guided walks. Maybe you are looking for participants for a community project? Advertise here and use the RA
network to spread the word.

Submission deadline for Rock Articles No. 14: 18th Sept 2015

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Issue No 13: Spring 2015

Rock Art Abstracts: Headlines from recent journal papers. What are academic researchers currently
thinking about? (Full papers available online only with subscription)

Musk ox modification in Ethiopia

Could the contemporary transformation of oxen in southwest Ethiopia provide insight into cattle portrayal in Ethiopian rock art?
The authors suggest the patterns on cattle coats in Ethiopian rock art may represent real practices of decorative branding to
modify, alter, or beautify the animals.
Insoll, T., Timothy Clack, T., and Rege, O. (2015). Mursi ox modification in the Lower Omo Valley and the interpretation of
cattle rock art in Ethiopia. Antiquity, 89: 91-105 doi:10.15184/aqy.2014.31

Violence in Neolithic Iberia

How violent was life in Neolithic society, and was there organised warfare? The author argues that Spanish Levantine rock art,
combined with data from the archaeological record, offers a unique insight into conflict in Neolithic society, with images of
violence, real or imagined, being acted out in scenes preserved in rock shelters.
Lpez-Montalvo, E. (2015). Violence in Neolithic Iberia: new readings of Levantine rock art. Antiquity, 89: 309-327
doi:10.15184/aqy.2014.12

Oxhide ingots in Scandinavia

Bronze Age Swedish rock art images identified as oxhide ingots suggest that Scandinavians were familiar with this
Mediterranean trading commodity. Might they have been travelling there rather than acting through a middle man?
Ling, J. and Stos-Gale, Z. (2015). Representations of oxhide ingots in Scandinavian rock art: the sketchbook of a Bronze Age
traveller? Antiquity, 89: 191-209 doi:10.15184/aqy.2014.1

Cosmological landscapes in Arkansas

American Indian rock art is distributed across the Arkansas River Valley in a distinctive pattern: motifs referencing the spirit
world predominate north of the river, and imagery depicting the observable world is found to the south. The authors explore
how local communities incorporated exotic ideas into the fabric of their cosmological landscapes.
Sabo, G., Hilliard, J.E., & Walker, L.C. (2015). Cosmological Landscapes and Exotic Gods: American Indian Rock Art in Arkansas.
Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 25(01): 261-273.

Hand stencils in Cantabria

European Palaeolithic hand stencils have generally been assigned to the Gravettian period but at El Castillo Cave, U-series
dating of calcite accretions show them to have to a minimum age of 37,290 years - the earlier Aurignacian. A red disk at the
base of the rock art stratigraphy had a minimum age of 40,800 years. The authors argue for an initial, non-figurative phase of
European cave art, although hand stencils continued to be painted into the Late Gravettian.
Garca-Diez, M., Garrido, D., Hoffmann, D.L., Pettitt, P.B., Pike, A.W.G., and Zilho, J. (2015). The chronology of hand stencils
in European Palaeolithic rock art: implications of new U-series results from El Castillo Cave (Cantabria, Spain) Journal of
Anthropological Sciences, 93: 1-18

Acoustics in Spain
This study analyses reverberation and echoes in areas with rock art and in areas with none. Different sounds were tested to
identify instruments capable producing a sensory reaction. The authors argue that the acoustic properties of a site indicate a
sacred use of the landscape, in which sound was a key element of ritual performance.
Diaz-Andreu, M., and Carlos Garcia, B. (2015). Acoustic rock art landscapes: a comparison between the acoustics of three
Levantine rock art areas in Mediterranean Spain [online]. Rock Art Research, 32(1): 46-62.

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Issue No 13: Spring 2015

OUT of the SHADOWS...

Lisa-Elen Meyering, a student at Durham University, has revealed some interesting patterns in her analysis of the figures
depicted on boats in Swedish rock art. Through a detailed analysis she found that figures associated with ritual performances
(such as acrobats, lur (horn) blowers, and ceremonial axe bearers) were common on panels located close to the sea, whereas
more everyday activities (including the moving of boats, combat, and hunting) were depicted on inland panels near to rivers.
But another discovery, made by chance by Lisa-Elen when visiting panels to carry out her analysis, provides a fascinating
glimpse of the possible processes surrounding the depiction of human figures. Here she explains her ideas.

The Sun Shadow Hypothesis Lisa-Elen Meyering BA Archaeology and Anthropology, Durham University
As part of my Undergraduate Dissertation project at Durham
University, I visited the World Heritage Site at Tanum, Sweden.
Tanum belongs to the county Bohusln, with northern Bohusln
bearing more than 1500 rock art sites. Its most abundant motif is
the boat and Bohusln alone counts almost 10000 of such
depictions. Yet, many anthropomorphic beings can also be observed
on the panels. They carry out actions such as hunting animals, are
engaged in interpersonal violence, dance, marry, and play
instruments. Additionally, there are a number of highly enlarged,
super-sized beings on the higher rocks of the sites. They are often
displayed with distorted bodies, such as long legs, enlarged calf
muscles and a short upper body.
Upon visiting the panel at Asperberget, a site of both steep and
almost horizontally sloped panels, the evening sun cast shadows of
visitors back onto the rock.
It was remarkable how the human shadows with
prominent features such as disproportionately
small upper bodies, elongated legs and
pronounced calf muscles mirrored the oversized
and enlarged anthropomorphic figures on the
rocks. The idealised figures on board boats as well
as stand-alone enlarged anthropomorphs outside
the realms of the boat possess heavily enlarged
calf muscles, generally long legs and a longer
lower body.
The following images exemplify this observed
phenomenon as depicted on the rocks of
Asperberget. The long legs in relation to the short
upper body is clearly visible and shows a striking
resemblance to the anthropomorphic beings
engraved in the rocks.

Without the luxury of a modern day mirror, and beyond

water reflections (e.g. Ovids Narcissus style) and possible
reflections in shiny bronze objects during the Bronze Age,
the sun would have been a welcome means to view
oneself in full length. Perhaps the Bronze Age carvers
wanted to reflect what they saw in such distortions on the
rocks as an eternal engraving, as a manifestation of their
existence. Maybe their shadow was an extension of
themselves, a second being perhaps? Shadows in ancient
Egypt often mirror the existence of a soul, so are these
depictions of distorted beings emblematic of souls or
higher spirits?
Waddington (1998) proposes that cup and ring marks
mirror patterns observable in the natural world, eg the
pattern that occurs when rain drops splash into a puddle
and cause radiating ripples. Bronze Age people might have
been similarly inspired by their surroundings to create
shadows of themselves as formed in and from nature.
Overall, what I am proposing is that Bronze Age carvers and their initiators might have used the power of celestial bodies such
as the sun to create artistic representations of themselves. Whatever their reasons for displaying their anthropomorphs in such
a way, the magnitude and detailed individuality of each carving never fails to fascinate viewers of the panels.
For any questions on Scandinavian Rock Art and information on further discoveries of my BA Dissertation, please contact me via
lisa-elen.meyering@dur.ac.uk

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Issue No 13: Spring 2015

ROCK ART READS: New and Forthcoming Publications

Picturing the Bronze Age. Edited by Johan Ling, Peter Skoglund and Ulf Bertilsson.
From Oxbow: Pictures from the Bronze Age are numerous, vivid and complex. There is no other
prehistoric period that has produced such a wide range of images spanning from rock art to
figurines to decoration on bronzes and gold. Fifteen papers, with a geographical coverage from
Scandinavia to the Iberian Peninsula, examine a wide range of topics reflecting the many forms and
expressions of Bronze Age imagery encompassing important themes including religion, materiality,
mobility, interaction, power and gender.
Contributors explore specific elements of rock art in some detail such as the representation of the
human form; images of manslaughter; and gender identities. The relationship between rock art
imagery and its location on the one hand, and metalwork and networks of trade and exchange of
both materials and ideas on the other, are considered. Modern and ancient perceptions of rock art
are discussed, in particular the changing perceptions that have developed during almost 150 years
of documented research.

ISBN: 978-1782978794; 232 pages with colour illustrations; Oxbow Books; Not yet published advance orders taken. Price GB 27.

www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/picturing-the-bronze-age.html

Communicating with the world of beings. Knut Helskog.

From Oxbow: The rock art found in the World Heritage sites in the Alta area, Arctic Norway,
comprise thousands of images including reindeer and elk as well as fish, birds, boats, humans and
geometric patterns. They contain information about peoples who lived in this northern area from
about 5000 BC up until the birth of Christ; such as possible social organizations, hunting and
trapping, beliefs, rituals, stories, legends, myths, cultural changes and continuities.
In this beautifully illustrated book Knut Helskog provides a lyrical and personal interpretation of the
chronology, patterning and possible meanings behind this extraordinary landscape of prehistoric
rock art.
ISBN 978-1782974116; 240 pages; colour illustrated throughout. Oxbow books. Price GB 35. Also
available as an eBook (pdf).
www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/communicating-with-the-world-of-beings.html

Elevated rock art. Towards a maritime understanding of Bronze Age rock art in northern
Bohusln, Sweden Volume 2. Johan Ling.
From Oxbow: How may Bohusln rock art and landscape be perceived and understood? Since the
Bronze Age, the landscape has been transformed by shore displacement but, largely due to
misunderstanding and certain ideas about the character of Bronze Age society, rock art research in
Tanum has drawn much of its inspiration from the present agrarian landscape. This perception of
the landscape has not been a major issue. This volume, republished from the GOTAC Serie B
(Gothenburg Archaeological thesis 49) aims to shed light on the process of shore displacement and
its social and cognitive implications for the interpretation of rock art in the prehistoric landscape.
The findings clearly show that in the Bronze Age, the majority of rock art sites in Bohusln had a
very close spatial connection to the sea.

ISBN: 978-1782977629; 272 pages with b/w and colour illustrations; Oxbow Books; Price GB
40. Also available as an eBook (pdf).

www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/elevated-rock-art-towards-a-maritime-understanding-of-bronze-age-rock-art-innorthern-bohuslan-sweden.html

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Issue No 13: Spring 2015

DATES for your DIARY: Forthcoming Conferences and Events

If you have an event you would like to publicise here please send me the details.

2nd May 2015

British Rock Art Group Annual Conference, Bristol University.
See page 6 for details and contact information.

29 May 2015 - 31 May 2015

The Prehistoric Society Europa Conference 2015: The Origins of Monumentality
Moore Auditorium, Science Centre, Belfield Campus, University College Dublin
See website for details: http://www.prehistoricsociety.org/events/event/europa_2015_dublin/

3rd September 2015

Tynedale North of the Wall Talks Series
The CARE Project: the preservation of our rock art heritage, by Aron Mazel and Myra Giesen
of Newcastle University. Hexham Abbey, 7.30pm.
For full details and bookings email tynedalearchaeology@gmail.com.

Cup-marked panel at Ravensheugh, Northumberland, photographed by Cezary Namirski.

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