Prehistoric art discovered in volunteer project
Over 100 new examples of prehistoric art have been discovered carved into rocky outcrops and boulders throughout Northumberland and Durham. The 5,000-year-old Neolithic carvings of concentric circles, interlocking rings and hollowed cups were uncovered as part of a four-year English Heritage-funded initiative, in partnership with Northumberland and Durham County Councils, to record and publish online all the prehistoric rock art within the region. A website – England’s Rock Art – with a full catalogue of the region’s rock carvings is launched today (Thursday, 31 July).
Around 2,500 rock art panels have been recorded to date in England and further examples almost certainly await discovery. English Heritage is hoping that the pioneering work undertaken as part of the Northumberland and Durham Rock Art Project (NADRAP) will be continued in other counties to create a nationwide record of this link with our prehistoric past.
One of the most interesting new discoveries is a large and elaborately carved panel on Barningham Moor, Co. Durham. The flat sandstone panel features many complex abstract carvings – interlocking grooves and hollowed cups with surrounding circles. Our prehistoric ancestors used stone tools to carve the mysterious symbols and the ‘peck’ marks are still visible on the Barningham panel.
Richard Stroud, one of the specially-trained volunteers involved in the project and part of the team which discovered the Barningham panel, said, “We expected to discover just one or two simple carvings. Instead we found a breathtaking panel, probably one of the most complex discovered in County Durham. There is a gulf of time and civilisation between the society that carved this stone and ours, its true meaning is something we’ll possibly never understand. I am proud that our work has helped preserve this fragile link to our ancestors.”
Edward Impey, Director of Conservation and Protection at English Heritage, said, “The British landscape is thickly scattered with these fascinating and enigmatic works of ancient art. The online record of the Northumberland and Durham examples will serve as the starting point for a national survey, and, we hope, help us understand their meaning and lead to the discovery of others.”
Kate Wilson, Inspector of Ancient Monuments at English Heritage, added, “There are many theories as to what rock art carvings mean. They may have played a role in fire, feastings and offering activities, or been used as ‘signposts’, or to mark territory. They may have a spiritual significance. In hunter-gatherer communities those places where mountains touch the sky or the sea reaches the shore, are often considered the domain of supernatural ancestors. The vast majority of rock art is found in those areas.
“The fact that these carved symbols developed in diverse and dispersed cultures across the world lend weight to arguments that these simple designs – and the urge to create them – are somehow hard-wired into the human psyche.”
The practice of carvings rocks flourished during the Neolithic period (about 4,000 to 6,000 years ago). Today, many carvings have been lost to natural erosion and human activities such as quarrying and field clearance. England’s Rock Art website is a new online catalogue that ensures that this fading and vulnerable prehistoric art is studied, protected and not forgotten. The project is funded by English Heritage and run in partnership with Northumberland and Durham County Councils.
Over 100 specially trained volunteers surveyed, photographed and discovered the rock panels in the region. Using 21st century technology the volunteers have created 3D computer models of much of the rock art for display on the website. As well as being a useful research tool, these models will give access to these remote and often difficult to find artefacts in a new and exciting way.
Sara Rushton, Northumberland County Archaeologist and manager of the Project said, “The public have engaged with this project in a way which we could never have anticipated. Our volunteer recorders have worked alongside experts in the field to develop new techniques and produce stunning 3- dimensional computer models of rock art for display. These models can be manipulated to show some carvings which are now almost completely invisible to the naked eye and will be a fantastic tool for managing these ancient sites for the future.”
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 any 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)
- 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
For press information, please contact Michael Murray-Fennell, English Heritage Corporate Communications, on 020 7973 3372 or michael.murray-fennell@english-heritage.org.uk.
Rock Art images are available for the press at Pic Select in an English Heritage folder called Rock Art.
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