Issue No 7: Autumn 2012

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RRRoooccckkk AAArrrtttiiicccllleeesss Issue No. 7: Spring 2012

Dear All,

Welcome to the Spring issue of RA, which includes some great articles from guest contributors, and a second appearance from Old

Rock Arty. Hope the milder weather has been getting everyone out and about, and the sudden return to snow and blizzards doesn’t

interfere too much with rock art related activities! If you do visit any sites and happen to notice any problems with the panels I’d be

interested to hear from you, for a future issue focussing on human threats to rock art (see page 5 for more info). Have a happy

Easter!

Kate

April 2012 kesharpe@live.co.uk

Contents:

New British Discoveries: Lake District cups ............................................................................................. 1

British Rock Art News ............................................................................................................................. 2

World Rock Art on the Web: international news and links ......................................................................... 3

Protecting British Rock Art: are we doing all we could? ............................................................................ 5

The Rock Art Code .................................................................................................................................... 6

A Conservation Dilemma: rock art under threat in the Yorkshire Dales ...................................................... 7

New Investigations at Tortie Cottage ................................................................................................... 8

Dates for your Diary: forthcoming conferences, day schools, and other events ......................................... 10

Rock Art Reads: new and forthcoming publications .................................................................................. 11

Inspired by Rock Art: your creative responses to cup and ring marks ....................................................... 11

NEW BRITISH DISCOVERIES: Lake District cups

If you have identified any new rock art and would like to feature your find here, please get in touch. Please note that grid references

will not be included in Rock Articles but finds should be reported to and verified by the relevant local authority HER officer. This

week highlights new cup-marks on the hard volcanic outcrops of the central Lake District.

Grasmere (Cumbria) Jan 2011

Having identified the cup-marked outcrop at Allen Bank (featured in RA6), National Trust

Wardens David Almond and James Archer have now added a second to their collection

(the third now recorded in Grasmere). Photo: David Almond.

Loughrigg Tarn (Cumbria) Jan 2012

Working on the basis that Cumbrian rock art seems to occur in quite specific locations,

Peter Style surveyed the area around Loughrigg Tarn in January. He was rewarded with

several new cup marks, five on the edge of a quarried outcrop and a couple more on

some exposed bedrock nearby.

Buttermere (Cumbria) 2009

Adding to the growing number of panels in the vicinity of Buttermere village, this

example was identified by Paul and Barbara Brown in 2011. (Drawing: Peter Style,

based on a photograph deposited by Paul Brown with the Lake District National Park

HER).

‘Langdale View’ 1 and 2 (Cumbria) 2011

The Browns continue their search for rock art. In February’s edition of Current

Archaeology they reported two new panels having a ‘view of the Langdales’. One is

described as having 84 deep cups; a second has over 90. Note: despite publication, the

site has not yet been formally reported, so the exact location is unknown and RA was

unable to verify the panels. The drawing is based on the photograph published in the CA

article.

Issue No 7: Autumn 2012

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BRITISH ROCK ART NEWS

Phantom inker strikes at Lordenshaw

It appears that the phantom motif painter who coloured in

cups and rings on Ilkley Moor last year has now moved

north, targeting the extensively carved ‘Main Rock’ at

Lordenshaw near Rothbury in Northumberland. How can we

put a stop to these attacks? See more, later in this issue.

(Photo: Tertia Barnett)

Rock art research at Newcastle University supported by

Prehistoric Society

Newcastle University graduate Mark Lawson has just been awarded a small

research grant from the Prehistoric Society. This will allow him to build on his

innovative undergraduate project in which he combined a detailed analysis of

carvings with a wider exploration of the surrounding landscape. Mark’s

dissertation was a runner up in the 2011 competition for the Prehistoric

Society’s Award for the best undergraduate dissertation on a prehistoric topic.

Co-directing with Mark at Newcastle is Dr Jan Harding, who explains “The

research project offers a detailed investigation of the penannular motifs, cup

and ring radial lines, and grooves of open-air rock art in northern

Northumberland. Their orientation and landscape setting will be examined to

help us better understand why they were depicted and their role in rock art’s

grammar and meaning.”

Image: radial groove at Weetwood Moor (image source: ERA website)

’AA’ volunteers restore Tortie Stone

The cup and ring marked ‘Tortie Stone’ near Tortie Cottage, Hallbankgates, near the Cumbria-Northumberland border was almost

lost when a farmer set out to remove it from his field. Fortunately a well-informed local spotted the stone on the farmer’s trailer and

the stone was replaced. A team of volunteers participating in the Altogether Archaeology project have now restored the stone to its

original position using data from an excavation carried out in 1988 by Colin Richardson. Further details of the project can be found

on page 7.

CSI: Rombalds Moor – half way there!

This year the winter months have been kind. The CSI volunteers lost only two of their nine scheduled working days and on 23 February they recorded a magnificent 17 panels in a single day despite having to gently scrape frozen grouse droppings from some stones. They have now clocked up over 200 panels – over half way towards completing the fieldwork. Louise Brown, newly appointed Community Archaeologist for the Watershed Landscapes Project, has been welcomed by the teams and was hugely appreciative of the commitment shown by team members. Read more about the latest CSI adventures on Rombalds Moor in the project blog at http://csirm.wordpress.com/ Image from the CSI blog shows volunteer Jo Pinfield with trained CSI rock art detector, Jet. Photo by Libby Jubb.

Issue No 7: Autumn 2012

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WORLD ROCK ART on the WEB

News from Spain, Zambia, Mexico, Azerbaijan, Australia, and the US.

Neanderthal art gallery found at Nerja, Spain

Six paintings, the only known artistic images to be attributed to Neanderthals,

were found in the Nerja Caves, 35 miles east of Malaga on Spain's Costa del

Sol. Professor Jose Luis Sanchidrian, from the University of Cordoba, described

the discovery as “an academic bombshell”. Organic residue found next to the

paintings has been dated at being between 43,500 and 42,300 years old, pre-

dating Chauvet by 10,000 years. Researchers hope to establish the exact age

by testing parts of the paintings themselves.

The Nerja Caves, an impressive series of enormous caverns, are also home to

the world's largest stalagmite, standing 105ft (32m) tall. Neanderthals lived in

the caves about 30,000 years ago, leaving behind flint tools. The images

depict the seals that inhabited the region, says Professor Sanchidrián, adding

that they have “no parallel in Palaeolithic art.”

Later, prehistoric Homo sapiens also used the caves, painting on the walls and

leaving pottery, tools and skeletons; Professor Sanchidrián does not rule out

the possibility that the paintings were made by early Homo sapiens. Dating of

the Nerja seal paintings' pigments will not take place until after 2013.

Additional excavations in the extensive cave system are ongoing.

Read more at http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21458-first-neanderthal-cave-

paintings-discovered-in-spain.html Image credit: Nerja Cave Foundation

Detail of artwork by Zenzele Chulu

Saving Zambia’s rock art

Zambian artist, Zenzele Chulu, has made it his mission to save the

rock art found in his country. "The danger is that they are so

vulnerable to vandalism and other kinds of elements that are

destroying the heritage," Mr Chulu told the BBC's Network Africa

programme. "So I took it upon myself, as an individual, to bring this

awareness through my work," he added. To do so he has started

including rock art symbols in his own paintings, like the one that

shown here, from the series Schematic Tantrums. Listen to an

interview with Zenzele at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-

16095888

New discoveries in Mexico

More than 3,000 pictorial motifs have been recorded at 40 sites in north eastern

Guanajuato, Mexico, following four seasons of research by the National Institute of

Anthropology and History (INAH). This brings the total number of known sites to over

70. Most of the images are thought to have been created by hunter-gatherers during

the 1-5 centuries AD, but religious iconography and inscriptions dating to the colonial

era were also found.

Yellow, red and black pigments were used to paint human figures adorned with

headdresses, skirts and cloaks, in scenes of hunting and war. “There is a great

diversity of animals represented – mainly deer, but also dogs and insects resembling

centipedes and spiders and many birds.” explained lead archaeologist Carlos

Viramontes, who contends that the rock face itself was a point of contact between

the material and the spiritual worlds.

Read the full story in Past Horizons at

http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/01/2012/forty-new-rock-art-sites-recorded-

in-mexico

Image credit: Carlos Viramontes / INAH

Issue No 7: Autumn 2012

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Rock art on display in Azerbaijan

A museum of Palaeolithic culture opened

in the Gobustan State Historical-Artistic

Reserve in Azerbaijan, reports the

Azerbaijan Business Centre. Opening the

museum, President Ilham Aliyev and his

wife enjoyed a display of petroglyphs

reflecting live dancing. Several of the

museum halls include exhibitions and

information relating to rock art. One

display, "Petroglyphs from centuries" lets

visitors explore more than 6,000

ornaments, and follow the evolution of

rock art.

Read more at:

http://abc.az/eng/news/main/60921.html

Image: Wikipedia Creative Commons

Any bidders? Aussie rock art on eBay

A case of suspected stolen Central Australian rock art is being investigated by authorities in South Australia, reports ABC News. The

Aboriginal art was recently advertised online, then withdrawn once the Department of Premier and Cabinet advised eBay it may be

stolen. It has since been discovered that the person listing the item had provided false identification details. Jenny Thomas of eBay

says the site is helping South Australian authorities investigate the suspected theft. "If you do provide false information when you

register on eBay, you will be very quickly found out because it is a very traceable situation," she said. "Anyone thinking of

attempting to sell a stolen item on the site would be very foolish. With a platform like eBay, it is incredibly transparent."

For more information visit the Protect Australia’s Spirit website: www.protectaustraliasspirit.com.au

A perspective view of the laser scan data captured at the Tutuveni Hopi

Petroglyph Site. Image: CyArk

New interactive website for Hopi petroglyphs

CyArk and partners have launched the Hopi Petroglyph Sites

Digital Preservation Project website, a portal featuring sacred

Hopi sites at Tutuveni and Dawa Park in Arizona which have

been documented through state-of-the-art 3D capture

technology. The resulting information collected has been used to

create online interactive and educational multimedia freely

available to the public. The 3D models and virtual tours provide

the basis for this rich interactive web portal, but they also

represent a permanent and highly-accurate 3D digital archive of

the sites and the petroglyphs contained within. With the

increasing vandalism and deterioration occurring at these sacred

Hopi Sites, it is more important than ever to document what

exists and educate the public about its importance, not only for

members of the Hopi tribe, but for all of us who stand to learn a

great deal about the diverse history of the Native American

people. This monumental project is the result of collaboration

between important tribe representatives and heritage

organizations. With the support of World Monuments Fund

(WMF), a New York-based non-profit dedicated to preserving

cultural heritage sites across the globe.

Full report on Past Horizons:

http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/01/2012/hopi-petroglyph-sites-web-portal-launched

Visit the new website: http://archive.cyark.org/hopi-petroglyph-sites-intro

Issue No 7: Autumn 2012

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PROTECTING BRITISH ROCK ART – ARE WE DOING ALL WE COULD?

It is now some time since the Northumberland and Durham Rock Art Project completed their recording work. This included a detailed and systematic evaluation of the condition of the rock art of the North East together with an assessment of future threats to the panels. This data was intended to provide a baseline for future monitoring, and to guide management decisions. There are many opinions about how we can best reduce the amount of physical and chemical weathering, and biological damage to panels, but setting aside the technical (and sometimes contentious) issues of preservation and conservation, are there any practical steps we should be encouraging to prevent human damage? In future issues we’ll be focussing on two aspects of this and asking for your opinion.

Visitors

How can we ensure that our rock art heritage is accessible and enjoyed by everyone, yet also protected from the harmful effects of increased visitor numbers? The NADRAP project developed a ‘Rock Art Code’ (available in the colour brochure and on the ERA website). The code was aimed at both members of the public and at landowners, and the project also worked hard to leave a legacy of an informed and engaged community; the volunteers and their families and friends felt a sense of ownership and pride in their local prehistoric heritage. But the rock art panels remain vulnerable to a range of human dangers: two examples are highlighted in the current issue. Is the approach of local engagement and education enough, or are more practical measures such as fencing, pathways, or signage needed? Or are these intrusive? Do you have any experiences or views you would like to share? Perhaps you have visited rock art overseas and were impressed (or not!) by the way rock art was presented.

New discoveries

The above discussion relates primarily to known, recorded panels, most of which have been scrutinised, recorded, and assessed at some point in recent history. Perhaps it is too late for many of these, long exposed to weathering and other destructive forces. But what of new discoveries - particularly those that have been freshly exposed by over-enthusiastic amateur explorers? Some of these finds might allow us to study well-preserved motifs, or enable us to undertake excavation around relatively undisturbed panels. Are we doing enough to ensure new finds are properly assessed, protected and recorded? How can we encourage and enable better reporting of new finds? Perhaps there should be more help for Local Authority Archaeologists so they are able to recognise valuable discoveries and discuss the finds with landowners. What do you think?

If you have views on any of the issues above, suggestions for ways to improve things, or you if you have witnessed a problem at a specific rock art panel I would like to hear from you for a future edition of Rock Articles. Your views will remain anonymous if you prefer!

Please contact me at kesharpe@live.co.uk.

To see what the Rock Art Code recommends see page 6 or please visit:

http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/era/section/record_manage/rm_manage_code.jsf

Issue No 7: Autumn 2012

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The Rock Art Code Always:

leave the carved rocks and other

archaeological features as you find them

seek permission to visit sites that are not

on publicly accessible land from the relevant

owner or manager

respect the environment and follow the

Countryside Code

Never:

remove turf from buried rock art panels

(the freshly exposed surface will be

especially vulnerable to erosive processes)

remove lichen from rock art panels

(you may remove part of the rock surface and

the tiny root fissures left behind will fill with

water and be susceptible to freeze-thaw

erosion, weakening the surface matrix)

attempt to remove graffiti, chalk, or

anything else on the rock

use any substances (including water) to

‘clean’ rock surfaces

use brushes with stiff bristles (plastic or

wire) to clean the rock (if you wish to

remove leaf detritus or animal droppings

from the carvings for your photographs

then use a soft brush)

use any metal tool (e.g. a trowel) to

‘clean’ the carvings

add chalk or enhance the carvings using

any other substance (this may interfere

with accurate dating of the surface)

undertake any recording technique that

involves direct and/or repeated contact

with the surface (e.g. wax rubbing)

scratch your name or messages on or

close to the carved panels

walk or drive over carved panels

make fires close to rock carvings

light candles on the carved panels

use sticky tape or other adhesives to fix

scales to the rock

Landowners or land managers with rock art If you are fortunate to have rock art on your land,

then the following steps are also recommended, but

always seek professional advice and obtain any

necessary permission such as Scheduled

Monument Consent.

encourage natural turf coverage

cover panels that are most at risk from

impact with a protective layer of turf (e.g.

those on track-ways which cannot be

re-routed or where panels are at risk from

vehicular and mechanical impact, or from

heavy animal and human impact)

gradually thin woodland and dense

vegetation immediately around rock art

panels

gradually remove forestry in the immediate

vicinity and prevent replanting close to

carved rocks (if replanting leave rock art in

clearings and design forestry to respect

the setting)

lower stock levels on land with rock art to

the minimum required to maintain

vegetation levels

remove large stock (cattle) from areas with

carved panels

undertake low-level maintenance and

monitoring to remove leaf and vegetation

litter and animal droppings from rock

surfaces

The following approaches should be avoided

without professional consultation:

any interventionist methods that interfere with

the carved rocks and invariably alter and often

harm the rock art

introduction of any changes that will rapidly

alter the surroundings of the rock and have

an impact on its surface

use of artificial coverings of any form

use of stabilising substances

Issue No 7: Autumn 2012

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A Conservation Dilemma

Rob White, Senior Historic Environment Officer, Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority

Rock art is best appreciated in its original location but what if in that location it is going to continue to be damaged?

The panel illustrated here is on a small, flat, block of light-grey, fine-grained sandstone deeply imbedded in the clay/limestone rubble occupation road known as Hartlington Moor Lane, near Grimwith Reservoir in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The walled track is a bridleway but is the principal access to a series of pasture fields and also to a grouse moor. There is a new plantation at the far end of the track. The primary use is probably agricultural traffic, including use by agricultural contractors who tend not to be aware of local issues. Although the panel is offset from the centre of the track, it is clearly being intermittently damaged by vehicle activity.

The exposed surface of the rock has two clear cups and single rings, one with a groove running from the cup to the ring with extremely clear pecking. There are nine other small cups, which are all worn. The surface also carries two groups of four oval shaped notches. These are most likely to be machine or vehicle damage, although they may be part of the carving.

As agricultural traffic is unlikely to cease using this track the three main management options would appear to be:

Burial. This would protect the panel in situ but effectively make it inaccessible to researchers and enthusiasts. It would also alter the panel’s environmental conditions. The ground surface would have to be sufficiently raised to prevent any compaction damage to the panel.

Relocation. This would enable a fuller archaeological investigation of the panel but would mean it was no longer in situ. Would it be better placed beside the track edge where it would continue to be accessible close to its presumably original location and subject to broadly similar environmental conditions, although less warmed by the sun in winter and potentially still vulnerable to vehicle activity; placed in the adjoining field (subject to the landowners consent) where it might be at risk from cutting machinery or trampling by cattle; or taken to a more secure off site location?

Barrier. Insertion of boulders on either side of the panel might encourage traffic to avoid the stone. These would have to be sufficiently large to be a deterrent to 4WD tractors; if too small they are likely to be driven over and potentially result in more vehicular disturbance. It would also be creating an obstruction in the occupation road.

What would you do? Are there other options? Suggestions to herinfo@yorkshiredales.org.uk please.

Issue No 7: Autumn 2012

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New Investigations At Tortie Cottage

Andy Curtis, volunteer with the Altogether Archaeology Project. Since the Northumberland & Durham Rock Art Project I’ve had a couple of years off the subject. Strange how it never really goes away though. There’s still the annual RAM to attend. It was very sad this year in the heavy Lordenshaw rain when Jan’s absence was so keenly felt. Also managed to get involved with some guided walks for large groups and always seem to lead past some of those enigmatic cup and ring carvings: Ford village via Broomridge, Goat Crag and Routing Lynn; a circle from Edlingham via Snook Bank and Millstone Burn. Smaller groups too, with some old and new friends; back to Morwick on sticky mud soaked rocks, but also often alone to Chatton, Old Bewick and Weetwood. Old friends all – part of the necessary yearly pilgrimage.

It was all Stan’s fault. His little blue and yellow volumes on Northumberland rock art bought years back in Newcastle Univers ity Archaeology Department. Even NADRAP’s workload didn’t quell the interest and produced some lasting friends. It was still only demographics though, stamp collecting, where the carved rocks could be found and what they looked like, but still little evidence about who had done them or why. What we need now is the cup-marked Rosetta Stone, carvings on the top, and initials and date below; or at least a nice pouch of implements left on the scene: rock implements used for the carving along with a leather pouch of other interesting dateable goodies.

So it was last summer, I was taking a walk in Weardale and met Paul Frodsham lounging with a spade at the bottom of a path in Westgate. He was involved with a dig on the medieval Westgate Castle for the Altogether Archaeology Project of the North Pennines AONB. I didn’t even know there was a castle in Westgate. I go there for the geology, flowers and to mooch about the abandoned industrial landscape. The volunteers had dug a hole some 6 feet or more deep, found some steps going down even further (wine cellar?) and clearly, with the unbridled enthusiasm on display, also some gold and silverware left over by the Durham Bishops. I must have mentioned rock art as Paul told me he was trying to organise a dig on a rock art site in the Pennines. I signed up that evening.

Problems with his first favoured site on MOD land meant a few delays, but eventually, word came of a dig at the Tortie Stone, in Cumbria on the north tip of the Pennine chain. It was to be in October, would, of course, unearth the Rosetta Stone, and I would be there to see it.

The project is a good model. It has a couple of proper archaeologists , Blaise Vyner, and his colleague, Steven who was taking a few days off from excavating the whole route of the A1, to direct the forces of a shifting posse of volunteers. Some complete novices like me, and others a little more practiced in the fine art of shifting turf, moving mud and scraping soil. Don’t they always get a mechanical digger to do the donkey work on Time Team? Over a proposed dig period of 6 days you only needed to sign up for a single day. I managed three. After the first day, I doubled my food ration, added another three layers of clothing and another two waterproofs.

Altogether Archaeology volunteers in action in north east Cumbria.

Issue No 7: Autumn 2012

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The Tortie stone had been moved in the past by the farmer and roughly put back, so Blaise just moved it again and a large trench was opened up around its site, including that of another boulder that Paul thought could have made up part of a related stone setting. Under the control of Steven, myself and another three volunteers trenched what seemed like the remaining acreage of the large field, around two further stones. The site of the Tortie stone itself seemed the most interesting but it had been previously dug by Colin Richardson from Tullie House Museum just after it was first discovered. He interpreted it as a toppled standing stone, and made few finds.

One of the boulders in our trench had a small indentation on its side - a possible cup-mark, but no other rock art was found. One afternoon after some hard turf ripping, the sun appeared and the Tortie Stone rock art stood out. Light is so important in archaeology.

Then it rained. Rain is so important in archaeology.

Only a few inches below the surface, around the second boulder there was the glint of a tiny flint fragment, our first. It only takes one and you start to concentrate. Then another: this, a small flint leaf in the distinctive form of an arrow head – no thickness and no weight – sneeze and it would be gone. I think I said something like, “Is this what we’re looking for?” I got the distinct impression it was.

We found about seven small flints in all but this was the only arrow head. What a find on my first dig – the feeling of excitement that makes all the hard work worthwhile.

The watery landscape around the cup and ring marked Tortie Stone (foreground): perfect hunting ground for the prehistoric owner of the arrowhead (inset).

There was no sign that a Late Bronze Age man had sat around the boulder knapping flints and certainly none that he was carving rocks. The same soil layer seemed to contain fragments of clay pigeon, so the rock art could just as well have been the work of Clay Pigeon Man. Paul Brown, visiting later in the day, thought the small arrow head may have been used for shooting birds. A boggy area just below the Tortie Stone may have been a good hunting ground as it would be today. An arrow head had been lost close to the stone. Was the rock art there at the time, and did its owner know the ‘who’ or the ‘why’?

Is this why the archaeologists do it? Is it because of that intense feeling you get when you first find and hold such an artefact in your hand. I felt an instant connection, psychological but real for all that, with that ancient bird hunter, who was maybe only looking for his dinner. Although the physical landscape has clearly changed much in that part of the Pennines, it remains dramatic and beautiful (at least when the sun’s out).

Rock art gives me the same connection. It starts a line which reaches forward from those ancient ancestors to ourselves, and its roots surely lie closely in how we both relate to the landscape where the connection is made. You don’t get that in a museum.

With luck, we’ll never find the Rosetta Stone or know the final answer to who or why, because then perhaps, some of that magic will be lost.

Issue No 7: Autumn 2012

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DATES for your DIARY: Forthcoming Conferences and Events

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

5th May

6th Biennial University of Bristol Rock Art Conference and British Rock Art Group

Symposium

BRAG returns to Bristol University with the theme “The British Scene”. See poster on page 11 for details

21st April

Archaeology and the Historic Environment in the Yorkshire Dales

Including papers on 175 years of exploration at Victoria Cave: Bainbridge Roman Fort, the excavation of a

Anglo-Saxon site in Ribblesdale and monastic Kilnsey. Held in Grassington Town Hall. For more information

contact YD NPA at Yoredale, Bainbridge, North Yorkshire DL8 3EL, tel 01969 652353,

email herinfo@yorkshiredales.org.uk, web www.yorkshiredales.org.uk. The cost is £15/12.50.

13th May

RAM2012

This year’s Rock Art Meeting will take the form of a visit to Old Bewick in Northumberland, with Rammers

meeting at 10 am at Hepburn Wood Car park (NU072248) at 9:30 for 10:00. Car-sharing will be used to get

everyone from the meeting point to Old Bewick. Any queries to Gavin Parry at fitzcoraldo@hotmail.com

8th June

Prehistoric Society Europa Postgraduate Conference, Reading University

Professor Richard Bradley will be honoured with the Europa prize for lifelong contribution to European prehistory. The conference will feature papers that look at issues explored in his research. Dr. Rob Hosfield (University of Reading) will chair, with keynote speaker, Professor Chris Gosden (Chair of European Archaeology, University of Oxford) and closing statements by Professor Richard Bradley.

More info at http://www.prehistoricsociety.org/events/event/the_prehistoric_society_europa_postgraduate_conference_the_university_of_re/

9th June

Prehistoric Society Europa Conference,Reading University

‘Landscapes, Monuments, and Society’. There will be a fee for the conference but the Europa Lecture is free to members. The talk, given by Richard Bradley will be 'Houses of commons, houses of lords: domestic dwellings and monumental architecture in prehistoric Europe'.

More info at http://www.prehistoricsociety.org/events/event/landscape_monuments_and_society_including_the_europa_lecture/

24th Sep – 5th Oct

Booking for the 2012 WRAO Field School is now open.

Forms can be found at

http://www.rock-art-in-wales.co.uk/top/events.html

Issue No 7: Autumn 2012

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Issue No 7: Autumn 2012

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ROCK ART READS: New and Forthcoming Publications

Walk into Prehistory: Discovering over Forty of the Greatest Ancient

Sites of Britain and Ireland by Bill Bevan

From Amazon: A unique illustrated guidebook to walking 40 of Britain and Ireland's

most important and impressive prehistoric monuments. Ranging from stone circles

and henges to hillforts and burial chambers, Bill Bevan describes how these

monuments were deliberately built and located to be seen and approached from

certain directions .

ISBN-10: 071123177X ISBN-13: 978-0711231771 Hardcover: 192 p (Frances

Lincoln 2011). Hardback. Price GB £16.50

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Walk-into-Prehistory-Discovering-

Greatest/dp/071123177X/

Deciphering Ancient Minds: The Mystery of San Bushman Rock Art by

David Lewis-Williams and Sam Challis

From Oxbow: The rock art of the San people of southern Africa is justifiably world

famous. Here, the great authority David Lewis-Williams and his colleague Sam

Challis reveal how these rock paintings and engravings can be made to yield insights

into San beliefs and ways of thought. The picture that emerges is very different

from past analysis: this art is not a naïve narrative of daily life but rather is imbued

with power and religious depth.

ISBN-13: 978-0-500-05169-6 ISBN-10: 0-500-05169-0, 224p b/w illus, col pls

(Thames & Hudson 2011). Hardback. Price GB £18.95

http://www.oxbowbooks.com/bookinfo.cfm/ID/90776

INSPIRED by ROCK ART

Rock art inspires many different creative responses. If you have produced something rock art related and would like to share it with Rock Articles readers, drop me a line at kesharpe@live.co.uk. Here we have another pearl of wisdom from Old Rock Arty… (Looks vaguely familiar doesn’t he? Ed.)

If a bloke ever

tells you he

has all the

answers to the

mystery of

rock art, you

can be certain

of only one

thing: he

knows nowt…