North East's Rock Art Celebrated

Seventeen examples of prehistoric rock art in the North East of England have been scheduled as Ancient Monuments by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport following advice from English Heritage drawing on the work of volunteer researchers.

The term ‘prehistoric rock art’ describes a specific style of carvings created in the Neolithic and early Bronze Age, around 3800 BC to 1500 BC. These intriguing, abstract carvings share some motifs, with variations around main themes, and are found throughout northern Europe. Motifs range from the common ‘cup mark’, essentially a small bowl-shaped carving, or the ‘cup and ring’ which is a cup mark surrounded by one or several circular grooves, to linear grooves, arcs and even rare rosette forms. These motifs may appear singly, in small groups, or over large areas of rock surface.

The meaning of the designs remains a mystery but they seem to be abstract and held some unknown, possibly sacred meaning for those who created them. Over 5000 separate rock art sites are known in Britain of which more than half are in England and while some examples do occur further south, they can mainly be found in the upland areas of the north, hidden amongst the bracken. The 17 newly designated sites are considered to be particularly well preserved examples, displaying a wide range of motifs and enhancing our knowledge of Prehistoric society.

A particularly arresting example of Northumberland’s rock art is Ketley Crag where the stone base of a rock shelter has been extensively carved with a complex and fluid range of motifs, complete with well preserved pick marks made by the instrument used to make the carvings.

Other rock art sites added to the National Heritage List for England are:

A panel at Whitsunbank and a group of panels in Buttony, all in Northumberland displaying a variety of carvings ranging from cups and rings to the more unusual circular grooves and rosette forms.· A group of panels on Doddington Moor, Northumberland displaying a range of motifs including a rosette form made up of a central cup surrounded by 10 other cups and 2 outer rings.

· A panel in Heddon Hill, Northumberland unusually situated within igneous rocks.

· A group of panels on Weetwood Moor, Northumberland.

· A group of panels in Amerside Law, Northumberland.

· Small group of panels in Howden Hill, Northumberland.

· A panel in Welhope, Northumberland.

· Two sites, Lemmington Wood and Goatscrag rock shelter in Northumberland, include prehistoric carvings alongside carvings from a different period: the panel at Lemmington Wood bears a deeply carved linked prehistoric motif alongside an extremely rare early medieval Runic inscription; scholars have identified one possible meaning as ‘relic’ perhaps giving a tantalising insight into early medieval perspectives on the past. At Goatscrag, a** **small group of prehistoric motifs are accompanied by four carvings of goats or deer which have been carved onto part of the wall of the shelter, considered to be of late Prehistoric, Romano-British or Early Medieval date.

These sites were scheduled thanks to information gathered by The Northumberland and Durham Rock Art Project (NADRAP), supported by English Heritage. It involved around 100 volunteers from the surrounding area, keen to immerse themselves in local history who, supported by specialists from English Heritage and the local council, captured details of 1500 individual rock art panels situated across several different sites.