Posted on 01/14/2005 2:21:48 PM PST by blam
Contact: Aron Mazel
a.d.mazel@ncl.ac.uk
44-191-222-7845
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
New prehistoric rock carvings discovered in Northern England
Example of rock art at Weetwood Moor, Northumberland (credit, Aron Mazel)
More than 250 new examples of England's finest array of prehistoric rock art carvings, sited close to the Scottish border, have been discovered by archaeologists compiling a unique database.
Now over one thousand of the 'cup and ring' carvings can be admired on a new website, which carries 6,000 images and is said to be the most comprehensive of its kind in the world.
The site, which goes live today, includes the 250 panels unearthed during a two-and-a-half year trawl of some of England's remotest countryside, in the expansive moorlands of Northumberland.
Experts, however, are still grappling with the origins and meaning of these abstract carvings, believed to be the work of Neolithic and Early Bronze Age people between 6000 and 3500 years ago, although there are several theories.
Among the new discoveries made by the University of Newcastle upon Tyne archaeologists is a collection at Goatstones, near Wark, where a haul of 14 carved stones was spotted and recorded for the first time. Elsewhere in the county, a local farmer alerted the team to seven panels on his land, which had not been previously recorded.
Old favourites will also be featured in the website, such as the country's largest collection of rock art featured in one place, at Roughting Linn.
Inspiration for the project came from the Northumberland rock art specialist, Dr Stan Beckensall, who donated his archive of books, photographs, drawings, rubbings and more to Newcastle University. Funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Board enabled Dr Stan Beckensall and University archaeologist Dr Aron Mazel to take things a step further.
For the past two and a half years the pair have been updating and expanding the resource so that a comprehensive archive accessible for all elements of the international community – academic and school children alike – can be made available.
The new website, which goes live today, has been created with the help of Heritage Media, a company specialising in the design of websites for heritage topics, set up by Newcastle University graduates Jessica Kemp and Marc Johnstone, together with computer database and website expert Horacio Ayestaran. The principal investigator was Prof Geoff Bailey, previously at Newcastle University but now with the Department of Archaeology at the University of York.
Features of the new website, which can be viewed at http://rockart.ncl.ac.uk include:
A browse facility where users can view all panels or browse by parish, map, panel type, location, access (including suitability for wheelchairs), image type, and art motifs
• An advanced search facility
• An extensive bibliography of Northumberland rock art for academic and specialist users
• An 'interactive zone', mainly aimed at younger and non-specialist users. Features include video and audio clips, games with a rock art theme, photo galleries presenting some of the project's finest images of Northumberland rock art and showing the team and colleagues at work
• An archive featuring around 6,000 images, including 360 degree photographs ('bubbleworlds') showing rock art in its landscape setting, drawings, digital images, and digitised slides and negatives.
Project leader, Aron Mazel, of Newcastle University's School of Historical Studies, said: "It's incredibly important that we are aware of our heritage, not least because it helps us understand our own origins and identities. Our team has spent the last few years on a prehistoric 'adventure' and now we're at the stage where we can share our finds with others.
"The Beckensall archive gave this project a head start but we've also been very excited to find new specimens of this very special art. There are likely to be more carved stones there hidden under the undergrowth so we're sure this is not the end of the story," said Dr Mazel, adding that he hoped that the information presented on the website would encourage further research into this special archaeological resource.
Stan Beckensall added: "One of the key aims was to promote widespread enjoyment of this fascinating part of our history, and the web was the obvious medium to reach out to the 21st century historian, amateur and professional alike.
"I'm sure the artists who hammered their symbols on the stones thousands of years ago, on their windswept moorland settlements, never imagined their work would become such a world phenomenon as this!"
John Holmes, One NorthEast director of regeneration and tourism, said: "The site is great news for visitors looking to explore the region's amazing and little known historical treasures including ancient rock art, Iron Age hillforts and standing stones.
"Hopefully this will whet the appetite of many would be visitors, keen to see these rock features in the flesh, and give people an extra reason to make the
North East of England a place to visit this year."
### One NorthEast will be making it easy for visitors to access this new site by adding a link from www.visitnorthumbria.com
MEDIA INFORMATION: Interviews: Dr Aron Mazel 44-191-222-7845 or 44-774-313-0466. Available from 0900 to 1600 GMT Friday January 14 only. Email: a.d.mazel@ncl.ac.uk
Photographs: The following are available for use free of charge and can be downloaded from Newcastle University website:
Example of rock art at Weetwood Moor, Northumberland (credit, Aron Mazel): http://www.ncl.ac.uk/press.office/press.release/photos/230WeetwoodMoor_3a.jpg
Example of newly-discovered rock art (picture) at Snook Bank, Northumberland (credit, Aron Mazel): http://www.ncl.ac.uk/press.office/press.release/photos/225SnookBankPIC.jpg
Example of newly-discovered rock art (drawing) at Snook Bank: (credit, Stan Beckensall) http://www.ncl.ac.uk/press.office/press.release/photos/226SnookBankDRAWING.jpg
Aron Mazel and Stan Beckensall with Northumberland rock art (credit North News and Pictures): Portrait: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/press.office/press.release/photos/2278_ANCIENT_CARVINGS.jpg Landscape: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/press.office/press.release/photos/2287_ANCIENT_CARVINGS.jpg
END OF PRESS RELEASE: Issued by Newcastle University Press Office. Further information from Claire Jordan. Tel. 44-191-222-6067/7850 or 44-781-675-6027. Email press.office@ncl.ac.uk
Must've been the Picts...
Odds are those crop circle guys are direct descendants of the rock carvers.
For a moment there, I thought that rock thingie was the carving on the side of MY oxcart.
I just don't know. I wish I did.
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on, off, or alter the "Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list --
Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
The GGG Digest -- Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)
It's this guy and several happy little trees;
(just so the links work)
Portrait:
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/press.office/press.release/photos/2278_ANCIENT_CARVINGS.jpg
Landscape:
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/press.office/press.release/photos/2287_ANCIENT_CARVINGS.jp
One bears a lichenness to Kris Kringle - the other has bushy elf eyebrows.
So this is what they do in January.....
Hmmmmmmmmm.
Could be.
Me love science.
Well, I just have to wonder how that hole got there. That's all I'll say. ;')
I mean, it's not like there was TV thousands of years ago...
But that's it, all I'll say.
Then I got just the guy for ya
.....;)
"I'm sure the artists who hammered their symbols on the stones thousands of years ago, on their windswept moorland settlements, never imagined their work would become such a world phenomenon as this!"
Much less that it would be viewed on a computer from any place on the world (wiich is in fact round!). I wonder if someday the archives of FreeRepublic will be part of some universal library that can be accessed using mind telepathy from anywhere in the universe?
Oddly enough, there are many "cup marks" in the granite boulders on the ridge east of my house.
I have no idea if they're some kind of very odd [and very specific] type of erosion or what.
The area was absolutely thick with Indians, at one time so maybe they made them *but* I also have a greenstone hammer/ax/celt found near here that is referred to "archaic" in era.
It's a ground tool, not chipped or flaked like the usual Indian artifact, although there's plenty of chipped/flaked arrowheads around.
I often wonder if the ax/hammer didn't have more to do with the "Kennewick man" type of inhabitants than "Indians".
Be all of that as it may, the "cup marks" are always full of acorn and walnut shells because squirrels and chipmunks seem to love placing nuts in the "cup marks" and then crack them.
What does it "mean"?
Ain't gotta clue.....:)
Yes, and we have time travel as well.
Those carvings are variations on a dominant theme:
http://www.knowth.com/newgrange-chamber.htm
The ancient Irish believed that the Sidhe aka the fairies [oops...The Good Folk...Salamander crosses herself and hopes they weren't offended] made them.
Whomever made them got sure around.
The spiral "maze" and variations of it are found everywhere on the planet.
Could have been a universal/archetypal symbol.
Google "The Five Invasions of Ireland" for a wild mythopaeic ride.
Yup. Cherchen Man had them painted on the side of his face after he died.
Bill Nye The Science Human
Muttly like semi-hysterical experimentors.
Self-affirming.
....now back to the Lab.
Don't get me started on my patented "the Celts were everywhere" rant!....LOL!
I used to think Mr Wizard was *it* until I found Bill Nye....;))
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