Issue No.

18: Autumn 2017

Issue No. 18: Oct 2017

Dear All,
As we head into Autumn there is good news and lots to look forward to: the Beanley stone is back, the Scottish Rock Art Project
is well underway, and Heritage Lottery Funding at Durham University could see brand new rock art projects in the North East.
The BRAG Annual Conference will visit a true rock art heartland next year in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, so get your abstracts
submitted and your places booked early!

Kate
October 2017
kesharpe@outlook.com

Contents:
New British discoveries: new finds from Teeside and County Durham ....................................................... 1
British rock art news: NOSAS visit Tiree and possible rock art tools found in Wales .................................. 2
BRAG Conference: call for papers.............................................................................................................. 3
Rock art research at your fingertips....................................................................................................... 3
World rock art on the web: international news and links ........................................................................... 4
The Beanley stone re-discovered: Paul and Barbara Brown ................................................................ 5
Fishy goings on in North Durham: Kate Sharpe, Floor Huisman & Blanca Ochoa .............................. 6
Inspired by rock art: Haute couture cave art ............................................................................................. 8
Safeguarding Rock Art: using a mobile app to get the job done Aron Mazel & Myra Giesen ............ 9
Rock art research in Maastricht: Blanca Ochoa & Kate Sharpe ......................................................... 10
Rock art reads ....................................................................................................................................... 11
Rock art abstracts: headlines from the journals ...................................................................................... 12
Dates for your diary ............................................................................................................................... 13

NEW BRITISH DISCOVERIES

Eston Hills, Teeside

Volunteers working with the Ice and Fire Project have been busy uncovering evidence of
prehistoric activity on the hills overlooking the Tees Estuary including a cup-marked
stone. Three panels of rock art were known from the area (listed in Brown & Chappel 2012
Prehistoric Rock Art in North Yorkshire), but when a group of local school children were
shown around the site and asked to keep their eyes open, one young lad did just that
and found a new example!

Edmondsley, County Durham

Image: Cezary Namirski Not quite prehistoric but the technique is certainly very
similarThis fishy carving was uncovered by builders
renovating a house when they cleared an overgrown
garden. Read more about the mysterious catch on page 6.
Rediscovered: Beanley, Northumberland
It was there all the time! Read more on page 5.

Image: Floor Huisman

Image: Paul Brown

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 Issue No. 18: Autumn 2017

BRITISH ROCK ART NEWS: Projects, publications, and people

NOSAS ring the changes in Tiree

The North of Scotland Archaeological Society spent a week on Tiree in June this year and made some interesting new rock art
discoveries, covered in their blog at
https://nosasblog.wordpress.com/2017/06/30/a-few-disconnected-thoughts-after-the-nosas-trip-to-tiree-june-2017/

Their trip included a visit to the famous Ringing Stone, a large granite erratic on the west side of the island. John Wombell
explains: The boulder rings when struck with a small cobble and it is carved with about 50 cups of very variable size and shape
on five of its six sides including the north facing side which is singularly unusual. Some cups on the sides of the rock are what I
have described in the past as being like recessed shelves. In other words, they are asymmetric and it would be possible to
perch something small in the cup. There is nothing else quite like it in Britain. The small interpretation board near the site is
very suggestive and quite funny if it wasnt sad in stating that the cups are imprints of breasts!

The Ringing Stone, Tiree. Can you spot the breast impressions? Detail of new cups discovered cups at Fhiorngial. Image by Alan Ross
Thompson (NOSAS)

Belief in the North-East: rock art may feature in big new community project at
Durham University
The first public event of the HLF Belief in the North-East community project took place on
October 1st at Durham University. The Archaeology Department has secured first stage funding
to develop the project which will involve communities across the region in projects related to
belief/ritual/religion across all periods. Local people were invited to attend a day school, and
hear specialists talk about different aspects of the subject, and to feed back their interests, both
geographical and chronological.
Prehistory was well represented with rock art cropped up in several presentations. The day was
well attended and hopefully many of the audience indicated a strong interest in researching cup
and ring marks! You can find out more and register an interest via the project website:
http://www.beliefne.net/

Could these tools be designed for making rock art?

Amateur archaeologists excavating a Bronze Age site in Denbighshire, NE Wales,
have discovered a cache of around 20 stone hand tools that appear to have been
deposited deliberately in what would have been a stream around 4,500 years ago.
The cache was found by the Clwydian Range Archaeological Group (CRAG). The
hard limestone slabs of are shaped to a point, and vary from 50-220mm in length.
Consulting archaeologist Ian Brooks describes them: "...they all have this
characteristic point at one end, which has then been battered you've got pitting
and distinctive damage on the end, so they've been heavily used. There is
speculation that the tools were used to create rock art, and about their possible
relationship to a nearby burnt mound, excavated by CRAG in 2013 and carbon
dated to 2456-2583 BC. Geophysical surveys indicate that a plateau near the burnt
mound and the ancient stream may have included a small settlement of
roundhouses. Do any readers know of any rock art in the vicinity?

Read the full story at: Ian Brooks/CRAG

https://www.livescience.com/60606-stone-tools-unearthed-at-bronze-age-site.html

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 Issue No. 18: Autumn 2017

Hope to see lots of Rock Articles readers in Ilkley!

Rock art research at your fingertips

The 2017 Rock Art Studies (RAS) Bibliographic

Database update now contains 35,000 citations to
the world's rock art literature. The project is newly
hosted online in partnership between the Bay Area
Rock Art Research Association and the Museum of
Northern Arizona.
The database is open access and available at:
https://musnaz.org/search_rock_art_studies_db/
Robert Bednarik, Convener of the International
Federation of Rock Art Organizations has called
the RAS Database ". . . an incredibly useful,
valuable, and effective resource for the 9000 or so
rock art researchers of the world."
It includes:

35,000 citations to the Worlds rock art

literature
Over 100 archives, web portals,
bibliographies, library catalogues and other
miscellaneous sources
Books in and out of print, journals,
conference proceedings, periodicals, grey
literature, and ephemera

The data is searchable by: author, title, place

name, subject keyword, abstract, and ISBN/ISSN
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 Issue No. 18: Autumn 2017

WORLD ROCK ART on the WEB

News from Australia, southern Africa, Siberia, Costa Rica, and Iran

Inquiry hears of multiple threats to rock art in Western Australia,

A Senate inquiry is investigating the potential impact of a new ammonium nitrate
plant, close to irreplaceable Indigenous rock art, at the Burrup peninsula in remote
Western Australia. Prof John Black warned that emissions from the plant would
cause microbial growth on the rock surfaces, destroying their desert varnish. He
provided damning evidence that reports used to justify the new plant were severely
flawed. The inquiry also heard that the area has been treated with contempt by
outsiders. Craig Bonney of the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, said campers had
recently created a giant slide down the sand dunes. Local Mayor, Peter Long,
reported vandalism and graffiti and noted that a dominant weed, the passiflora,
was also posing a major problem.
Image: Graeme Robertson for the Guardian
More at https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/apr/21/worlds-largest-collection-of-
rock-art-at-risk-australian-senators-told#img-1

Volunteers preserve Aboriginal axe head grinding grooves

A rock art conservation project in the Blue Mountains National Park, west of Sydney
has uncovered high concentration of Aboriginal axe head grinding grooves on a
plateau of rock. Expert David Lambert said the grooves had been made by
Aboriginal people sitting by pools of water and grinding their stone axe heads,
usually made of basalt, into the sandstone to sharpen them.
The conservation project, run by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, was
launched several years ago because the site had been buried by debris washed off
a nearby access road. The grooves were being damaged by chemical weathering
caused by organic material sitting on top of the sandstone rock surface.
Trees and shrubs are being cleared from the area, then volunteers use less invasive
plastic hand tools to take off the top layer of soil and vegetation. Image: ABC Central West, Melanie Pearce
Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-25/volunteers-help-conserve-rock-art/8554874

Dreams of the Stone Age dated for first time in southern Africa
Stone Age rock paintings in southern Africa have been reliably dated directly for the
first time, revealing that early hunter-gatherers created art at three sites in the
region, some 5,700 years ago. The study focused on paintings in present-day
Botswana, South Africa and Lesotho created by the San people, whose direct
descendants still live in the area. If we are able to date depictions of livestock and
material goods associated with incoming groups, we may be able to start
unravelling the nature of interactions between groups in this early contact, says
David Pearce, an archaeologist and director of the Rock Art Institute at the
University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, and a co-author of
the latest study. (A. Bonneau et al. Antiquity 91, 322333; 2017).

Read more at: https://www.nature.com/news/dreams-of-the-stone-age-dated-for-first-time-in- Image: Adelphine Bonneau

southern-africa-1.21924

Siberian rock art threatened by spray paint

A sacred site believed to be up to 17,000 years old is under threat from modern
spray paint artists. The carvings, known as the Sikachi Alyan petroglyphs, decorate
basalt rocks in the Khabarovsk region of Siberia. They include carvings of faces and
shamanic masks along with woolly mammoths, horses, snakes, concentric circles
and hunting scenes. One image resembles a prototype of Edvard Munchs The
Scream, although experts suggest it represents an 'elk goddess' dating to the late
Mesolithic period. Modern graffiti artists have added their unmistakable imprint,
destroying these ancient messages from prehistory. Villagers from nearby
Malyshevo village are seeking to save the ancient art show from modern spray
painters.
Read more at: http://siberiantimes.com/other/others/news/stunning-ice-age-rock-art- Image: V. Popov
vandalised-by-modern-graffiti/

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 Issue No. 18: Autumn 2017

The Beanley Stone re-discovered!

Paul and Barbara Brown

In 2016, this prehistoric rock carving was reported missing by

archaeologists who believed it had been stolen. Confusion
arose, and is easily understood since its location had been
published by various agencies, each attributing National Grid
References with varying degrees of accuracy in an area that
holds many other archaeological features. These included a pit
at the edge of a linear field bank, recently filled with loose
stone, which further confounded archaeologists who surmised
this to have been the location of the missing stone.

Originally discovered in ca. 2002 by Stan Beckensall during

research for his forthcoming book Prehistoric Northumberland
(2003), the rectangular stone slab has a central motif with up
to six penannular rings, a pecked groove and four large cups.
The site, together with several other panels of rock art, was
re-recorded in 2006 by a team representing the
Northumberland and Durham Rock Art Project (NADRAP).
Figure 1: Beanley Moor with misleading pit in foreground.

Beanley Moor was occupied throughout prehistory and has

much evidence of its early inhabitants with large cairns and
the extensive and impressive Iron Age Ringses Fort, where
two other significant finds of rock art were discovered. Both
stones, thought to be cist covers, are currently displayed in
Alnwick Castle Museum.

In October 2016, Rock Articles No. 16 reported that the

Beanley Stone was considered missing, and this prompted our
determination to investigate. The stone measures 104 x 46cm
and its weight, together with its situationembedded in the
surrounding turfmeant that its removal from the moor would
have required the strength of more than one person. We
considered likely possibilities, for example, that the stone had
been donated or re-located to a private collection or garden,
or that for some unfathomable reason it had been moved
from its recorded location to elsewhere on Beanley Moor. Our
conclusion was that it was probably still in situ.

Figure 2: Stan Beckensall inspects the Beanley Stone.

Stan had shown us the site soon after its discovery and we
had taken photographs of the stone which, at the time, lay in
an area of open grassland. Using our archived images, we
noted features in the landscape and triangulated the stones
position. Since 2002, the whole area has become covered in
heather, which made our 2017 search much trickier.
Nevertheless, we managed to relocate the stone in its original
location, completely intact, undisturbed, as buried by the
NADRAP team. In order to photograph the stone, we carefully
removed heather, turf, and soil which, when we finished our
task, was painstakingly reinstated and the stone re-covered.

Figure 3: The Beanley Stone happily still in situ.

The stone is embedded in the moor at a downward angle and it appears to have been tightly packed at its edges. It also has
several small stones overlapping it, which suggests that it may have been decorated prior to its placement in a cairn that was
perhaps later robbed. Perhaps it is now time that the Beanley Stone site should be excavated to ascertain its true provenance,
and for its protection under English Heritage/Historic England Schedule.

Images courtesy of Paul and Barbara Brown.

References
Beckensall, S. 2003. Prehistoric Northumberland. Tempus: Stroud.

Further details of the Beanley Stone can be found on the Englands Rock Art database (ERA ID 1097):
http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/era/section/panel/overview.jsf?eraId=1097
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 Issue No. 18: Autumn 2017

Fishy goings on in North Durham

Kate Sharpe, Floor Huisman & Blanca Ochoa

Earlier this year, we were alerted to a possible new rock art discovery on a private, residential building site near Edmondsley in
North Durham. Whilst clearing the garden, workers had uncovered a large piece of stone onto which, they reported, had been
carved a fish. Owner, David told us The previous owner was an old man who had lived here since the late 1960s but I don't
think he would have been the type of person who collected or been interested in old stones or archaeology, as the whole place
was overgrown and neglected. Although fish imagery is not typical of the prehistoric repertoire, our curiosity was piqued and
we decided to investigate. We did not anticipate quite how difficult it would be to catch and land our slippery target.

The stone proved to be a rectangular pillar measuring 1 x 0.36 x 0.30 m (Fig 1). It is neatly dressed (using metal tools?) on all
sides except the carved face and that opposite. The decorated surface retains the natural contours, apart from a narrow,
roughly dressed border. The fish has been created by pecking in the manner of prehistoric cup and ring marks (large pecks
were visible in several places) and has a naturalistic appearance closely resembling a salmon or trout with a possible cross
(hook?) extending from its open mouth. A single pecked groove outlines the head, body and tail, with additional lines defining
the head/gills and transecting the length of the body. A rounded hollow forms the open mouth, and the eye seems deepened,
possibly by a boring technique. Two sets of fins are present above and below the body, and further curving grooves are evident
above and below the tail. The sandstone block is crossed by reddish iron banding, parallel to the fish. A photogrammetry model
is now being produced which will allow us to look more closely at 3D features, without the distraction of the surface colouring.

The block, then, seems to have been subject to at least two separate episodes of work: the pecked fish and the later stone
work of the pillar. We concluded that despite the pecking technique, the carving itself was unlikely to be of Neolithic/Bronze Age
origin as fish are not known to be part of the abstract repertoire, and we were too far north for Palaeolithic art such as at
Creswell Crags in Derbyshire (the ice would have covered county Durham) and in any case, the style and technique were not
compatible with cave art. Might it have Roman or Early Medieval origins?

Figure 1: The mystery fish with detail of head and tail.

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 Issue No. 18: Autumn 2017

We began by consulting experts in Anglo Saxon stonework at Durham University: Dame Professor Rosemary Cramp, Professor
Sarah Semple, and Dr Derek Craig, custodian of the Corpus of Anglo Saxon Stone Sculpture database
(http://www.ascorpus.ac.uk/). Derek suggested we look at a carving from Borthwick Mains near Hawick in Roxburghshire
(http://canmore.org.uk/site/54197; Fig 2).

This fish, measuring 0.94 m from nose to tail, was pecked onto a 1.5 m tall pillar (0.36 x 0.36 m) which once stood in the River
Teviot. Tradition tells that it was captured after a fight between the inhabitants of the two valleys, and it is said to have once
acted as a nilometer: if the tail could be seen above the water it was safe to cross the river. Of a similar size to the Edmondsley
fish, it is formed from a continuous line, with additional lines depicting fins, gills and an eye. The presence of an adipose fin
suggests that it was intended to depict a salmon.

The carving was once thought to be of Pictish origina number of Pictish fish are known from Northern Scotland (eg Fig 2),
and thought to have a pagan Celtic religious significance. They are also all close to salmon rivers, and may be somehow related
to fishing rights. Cessford (1993) argues, however, that its southerly location, the lack of other Pictish symbols on the stone,
and stylistic differences, all indicate that the Borthwick Mains fish is an imitation of later date the 6th or 7th century, although
it may have had a similar role.

Figure 2: Pictish salmon or later imitation? Left and top right: The Borthwick Mains Fish (image: David Petts; interpretation: Cessford
1993); bottom right: Pictish fish from Dunnicaer (Thomson 1860)

By coincidence, Professor Cramp had recently returned from a research trip to France where she had been visiting Merovingian
churches. Amongst the decorated stones she had seen a number of fish images, which she very kindly shared (eg Fig 3). On
seeing photographs of our Edmondsley fish, and hearing the dimensions of the stone, she thought it might be similar, dating to
the 6th or 7th century. She also noted that there is a fish depicted in stone at Hexham Abbey, and dated to the last part of the
7th century (Fig 3).

Figure 3: Early Medieval fish. Left: Merovingian fish from France. Image courtesy of R. Cramp.
Right: fish from south aisle of choir of Hexham Abbey, dated to the last quarter of 7th century.

In July, Professor Sarah Semple paid a visit to the Edmondsley fish. After careful examination she reached the conclusion that
the fish was not an Anglo-Saxon piece. She observed that the stone had at least three phases of working - the fish - pecked
out - and some of the surrounding background pecked out - fins on back and belly could be added later as the pecking is not
apparent on these - they look gouged. Then an arrow is added - it enters across the fish at the mouth and there is a crude
cross at this end and the line traverses the body of the fish. This is not pecked out and is crude and looks like a later addition.
Finally the block has been refaced for use in a building. So I think it comes from somewhere else, and has been altered -
possibly in the Med/early modern period - the damage and this later work makes the piece look crude but actually the fish is
executed quite well in a regular manner.

All our experts had indicated that the carving was definitely old, even though the stone block may have been fashioned more
recently. We next turned our attention to Roman sculpture and especially to the use of fish symbology in early Christian
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 Issue No. 18: Autumn 2017

contexts. The use of the fish as an early Christian symbol is well documented (Fig 4). The find site is not too far from the forts
at Chester-le-Street, and at Lanchester and Ebchester and, of course to Dere Street.

Figure 4: Early Christian symbolism. Left: on silver spoon from Trapain Law (410-425 AD), East Lothian.
Middle and right: on grave inscriptions from Rome.

We are fortunate, in the North East, to have access to a number of experts in Roman stones. We showed images of the fish to
Dr David Petts, Senior Lecturer in the Archaeology of Northern England at Durham University and Director of the Binchester
Roman Fort Field School, and to Dr Lindsay Allason-Jones, Reader in Roman Material Culture at Newcastle University. The
response was mixed: David thought our fish unlikely to be of Roman origin or to have Christian associations; Lindsay expressed
an interest in seeing the carving first hand. On a rainy day in October, she joined us on site. After mopping the pooling water
from the grooves, and examining the carving she suggested that it was, indeed, possible that it may have had been a Roman
hand that once decorated the stone, most likely when it was in situ, perhaps in a quarry used by the builders of Dere Street.
Linsay explained that she could find only one fish on a stone sculpture from Britain: a relief of a male figure, identified rather
dodgily as Mars Cocidius, who is holding a shield with a fish motif running up its length. It's privately owned near Gilsland. She
added that Frances Mawer, however, has a number of fish in her catalogue of Christian artefacts in Roman Britain (1995, BAR
Brit Ser. 243) and, whilst a fish is a fish, these do look similar. The Edmondsley carving, she argued, was probably hewn from
the rock in the 18th or 19th century and shaped to create the block, most likely intended to decorate a new building. The current
owner intends to do just this, setting the fish block into a stone garage, where it will safely continue to watch over the world.

So, have we solved the mystery of the carved stone fish? Perhaps not entirely, but we have had an interesting insight into the
ways in which archaeologists dealing with stone carving from different periods approach the problems of authentication and
chronology. Perhaps the photogrammetric model will help us to move the story forwards. Watch this spaceand in the
meantime, if you have any thoughts of your own on the Edmondsley fish, do get in touch!

Cessford, C (1993) The Borthwick Mains Salmon, Hawick Archaeological Society Transactions, 269.
Mawer, CF (1995) Evidence for Christianity in Roman Britain. The small-finds. BAR British Series 243.
Thomson, A (1860) Notice of sculptured stones found at Dinnacair, a rock in the sea, near Stonehaven, Proceedings of the
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 3: 6975.

INSPIRED BY ROCK ART

Haute Couture Cave Art

The Palaeolithic cave paintings of
Europe continue to inspire. In
May, Christian Dior released the
Lascaux Collection: fashion
based on some of Europe's
earliest art.
Designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri
the prints were inspired by the
Lascaux cave paintings, which
are. Chiuri discovered that
Monsieur Christian Dior was
fascinated by Lascaux; his Ovale
collection of 1951 alluded to
primitive female depictions such
as the Venus of Willendorf.

According to LMVH, Guided by this inspiration and the idea of a wild and ancient femininity, Maria Grazia Chiuri infuses the
collection with shamanic intuition that celebrates instinctive spirit.

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Safeguarding Rock Art: using a mobile app to get the job done
Aron Mazel & Myra Giesen

Open-air rock art panels form an iconic component of the UK and Ireland's archaeological heritage. This valuable resource is,
however, under threat from increasing population densities and agricultural intensity, along with climate change, and is
deteriorating. Threats include being scratched by livestock (Fig 1), dumped on the sides of fields, and driven on.
People in the UK and Ireland now have an opportunity to contribute to the safeguarding of ancient open-air rock art by
providing information about the condition of motifs and panels using a dedicated mobile app. Until now, condition assessments
and risk evaluations of rock art has been a paper-based exercise. Newcastle University researchers and software developers
have joined forces to convert a paper-based monitoring form into the first ever bespoke app that can be used in the countryside
to monitor threats to rock artanimal and humanas well as the condition of the motifs (Fig 2).

Figure 1: Scratched panel Figure 2: From paper to app

The initial paper-based monitoring form was developed with the help of the public, who provided feedback on how best to
represent some of the criteria that we wanted to capture on the forms (Fig 3). The app is downloadable free from Google Play
(Android) or Apple iTunes (iOS), searching on CARE Rock Art (see also https://rockartcare.ncl.ac.uk/). Completing the app form is
not a lengthy processtiming will differ between peoplebut it should not take longer than 5 to 10 minutes (Fig 4). An
extensive Help menu is available on the app to support completion of reports. It is okay to complete reports in areas without
the internet, as records are queued for later uploading.

Figure 3: Developing the form Figure 4: Using the app in the field

After uploading reports, it is possible to use the web portal to review and modify individual reports. It is not, however, possible
to see reports completed by other people. Once uploaded, reports are made available, via the portal, to the CARE project team,
custodians of the rock art (if known), heritage agencies, and heritage officials in the counties in which the panel is located.
A paper-based form can also be completed in the field and the information later entered electronically on the web portal using
the Create Report tab and submitted as a new report, along with two images (required for the report to be accepted). The web
portal has a downloadable pdf form to support completing a paper-based form in the countryside.
By completing a report on the CARE app or on the CARE Portal, users contribute to the scoring system that calculates a panels
overall CARE status. A scorecard has also been developed, where risks are weighted against different criteria to establish the
extent of the risk; panels are categorised as being at serious risk (red), at risk (amber), or not at risk (green). Managemen t
guidance specific to the information provided in the reports and scorecards is also provided on the CARE portal. It is
recommended, however, that any management interventions by the landowner and/or manager should be done in consultation
with local authority archaeologists/heritage officers/appropriate bodies that support the conservation of rock art in the
countryside.
The app was produced as part of the Heritage and Science: Working Together in the CARE of Rock Art project whose purpose
was to undertake research into the factors that threaten open-air rock art and to develop materials that aid in its safeguarding.
The CARE project is a collaboration between heritage and science research interests at Newcastle University (Myra Giesen,
David Graham, Peter Lewis, and Aron Mazel) and Queen's University Belfast (Patricia Warke). The app was developed by Mark
Turner and Stephen Dowsland (Newcastle University and Labyrinth Web Design). The Arts and Humanities Research Council
and Newcastle University provided funding.
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Rock art research in Maastricht: a review of the European Archaeologist Association Conference 2017
Blanca Ochoa & Kate Sharpe
This years EAA meeting was held in
the Dutch city of Maastricht, at the
heart of Europe, with themes
including approaches and problems
that have entertained archaeologists
for several decades: the technical
revolutions and the multidisciplinary
approach, the management of
heritage in the current political
climate, and the interpretation of
archaeological data. The programme
included no fewer than four sessions
in which rock art was the main
subject; each of them touched on one
or several of the general themes. This
was a significant advance from the
previous year in which there was only
one session focussing on rock art.
With research interests in Spanish
Palaeolithic cave art and
Neolithic/Bronze Age British
petroglyphs respectively, we were
each hoping to hear some inspiring
presentations.
Rock Art Research is
Archaeology or it is nothing was
organised by Marina Gallinaro and
Ins Domingo. Over a full morning,
twelve papers explored new
perspectives developed using
archaeological methods to obtain
results with the potential to bring us
closer to the societies that created the
rock art. Researchers discussed the
fine line between managing heritage,
preserving the rock art and scientific
study (Ins Domingo), new
methodologies (Andrea Jalandoni and
Blanca Ochoa), new approaches to old
problems (Joana Valdez, Marta Diaz-
Guardamino, Eymard Fader, Oliver
Vogels), and introduced some new
and interesting research questions
(Margarita Daz-Andreu).
Organised by Joakim Goldhahn and
Sally May, The materiality of rock
art: insights into relationships
between people, place and object
in world rock art delved deeper
into the study of the objects related to
rock art rather than the rock art itself.
This approach is not new but has
been somewhat neglected by rock art
researchers until the last decade. After
a general historiographical
introduction by the organiser, the
presentations covered two main
general questions: 1) how the
ethnographic context can be used to
interpret depictions in rock art by
analysing the current use of some
objects found in the material culture
of the hunter-gatherers in Africa
(musical bows by Oliver Vogels) and
Australia (baskets by Emily Miller) and
2) the relations between material
culture and the depictions of a specific
chronology: Marta Diaz-Guardamino
regarding the warrior stelae and
funerary assemblages in Bronze Age
Iberia; Ekaterina Devlet about arctic
whale hunters equipment in rock art
representations, and Joakhim
Goldhahn debunking traditional
interpretations by analysing rock art
through the material culture.
Baskets carried by Australian
Bradshaw figures
The session Mind the Gap 2.0:
Building bridges between science,
heritage and society in the
archaeology of rock art, organised
by Ins Domingo and Marina
Gallinaro, was short but sweet. Its
main purpose was the conciliation
between research, politics and the
engagement with the societies that
currently live around the rock art.
With perspectives from Australia (Paul
Taon), Spain (Ins Domingo), Chile
(Rosario Cordero) and Africa (Marina
Gallinaro) we saw different
approaches from around the world. All
the speakers remarked on the
importance of the interaction between
local communities and rock art, both
to protect it and to develop it. Two
very different perspectives were
presented: communities with no
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Issue No. 18: Autumn 2017
interest in the rock art (Spanish and
Chile) and those that have maintained
a connection throughout time but are
beginning to lose it (Australia). In all
cases the speakers explored the tools
that researchers have applied to
engage present communities in the
recording of the rock art and its
touristic development within the
margins of research.
The final session dedicated to rock art
was organised by George Nash and
May-Tove Smiseth. Looking beyond
the intervention of the artist.
Choice and preparation in rock
art sites focused on the location,
specific placement and the
relationship between the surface or
canvas and the rock art. As with the
other rock art sessions in the
conference, the presentations
spanned wide chronologies and
geographies, from Nordic latitudes to
Peru. The use of new techniques was
evident with photogrammetry, RTI, 3D
imaging applied to investigate the
placement of the depictions (Nathalie
Brusgaard, Ekaterina Devlet,
Alexander Pakhunov). Other
interesting approaches relied on more
traditional archaeological methods to
understand the choices and
relationships between the art and its
surrounding landscape (Courtney
Nimura, George Nash, Joakim
Goldhahn). Sadly, the short time slot
scheduled for the session, and its
timing just prior to the Annual EAA
meeting, precluded any questions to
the presenters or discussion of the
topics raised at least until later over
a drink
 Issue No. 18: Autumn 2017

software like D-Stretch were research community. We also need to

Bedolina map reflecting topography
at Valcamonica, Italy
Overall, we both agreed that the
meeting provided a wide perspective
from members of a more widespread
rock art research community around
the world and working on very
different periods. We also agreed,
however, that many of the several
presentations did not represent a
major advance in research: it is now
some time since 3D imaging and
pioneered as new and exciting ensure that we communicate
recording & visualisation techniques, contextual research more widely,
yet several papers continue to present something hopefully achieved in
3D models without attempting to sessions 2 and 4 above.
answer a research question using the
imagery. This may be the reason why Although we each valued the
some archaeologists continue to sneer opportunity to hear about issues and
at rock art researchers, asking when techniques common to most rock art
are we going to become real researchers (eg recording methods,
archaeologists rather than art heritage management, community
historiansOn the other hand, involvement) neither of us
continued accusations that rock art is encountered many papers directly
never studied in context are relevant to our own specific interests:
frustrating: the number of excavations Palaeolithic cave art and abstract
at and around rock art sites has petroglyphs (most papers related to
increased, a number of studies have representational art). Perhaps we will
sought to relate representational art have to rectify this at next years
to the archaeological record, and conference in Barcelona!
there is general recognition amongst
most rock art researchers that the art
cannot be separated either from its
canvas or from the landscape onto
which it is inscribed or painted. That
real archaeologists still do not
recognise this is perhaps our own
fault. As archaeologists, we have a
duty to keep rock art studies far from
the simple study of the aesthetics and
history of art if we want to be
considered part of the archaeological

ROCK ART READS: new and forthcoming publications

An Engraved Landscape: The North Meets South: Theoretical

rock carvings of the Wadi al-
Ajal, South West Libya, Tertia
Barnett, Society for Libyan
Studies, Archaeopress, 45
(paperback)
An Engraved Landscape represents
the main report on the rock art of
the Wadi al-Ajal, south west Libya.
Based on extensive fieldwork
directed by the author between
2004 and 2009, and funded by the
British Academy and Society for Libyan Studies, this
monograph presents and synthesises a rich corpus of new
engravings from an area of central importance in the cultural
development of the Sahara. Spatial and quantitative analyses
of the carvings reveal changing relationships between
humans and the landscape over an 8000-year period from
c.6000 BC to recent times.
http://amzn.eu/cPJ5fV4
Aspects on the Northern and
Southern Rock Art Traditions in
Scandinavia (Swedish Rock Art
Research Series) Edited by Peter
Skoglund, Johan Ling & Ulf Bertilsson,
Oxbow Books, 20 (hardback)
This latest volume in the Swedish
Rock Art series bridges the gap
between analysis and interpretation of
rock art imagery, location and
chronology in the northern and
southern regions of Scandinavia. Long viewed as belonging to
distinctive regional traditions, there are many underlying
similarities, themes and formats in common, overlain by
regional complexities and variations. The authors explore new
approaches and methods of analysis. A major conclusion to
be drawn from this exercise is the great complexity and
variation of rock art and the need for perspectives comparing
various regions across Scandinavia.
http://amzn.eu/3Ah1wGZ

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 Issue No. 18: Autumn 2017

Rock Art Abstracts

Headlines from recent journal papers. What are researchers currently thinking about?
(Full papers available online with subscription)

Exploring a unique rock art
heritage in South America
The authors argue that the rock art
and its location show a clear causality
and intentionality to select the panel,
the subject matter and the audience
(and their possible participation).
Nash, G. & A. Troncoso. 2016.The
socio-ritual organisation of the upper
Limar Valley: two rock art traditions,
one landscape. Journal of Arid
Environments;http://dx.doi.org/10.101
6/j.jaridenv.2016.11.014
Ethnography of rock art in China
Understanding the values that uphold
the Zhuang peoples emotional
attachment to the Huashan rock art
area and the inuence of tourism on
those values is contributing to greater
understanding of the challenges of
heritage tourism.
Gao, Q. 2017. Social values and rock
art tourism: an ethnographic study of
the Huashan rock art area (China).
Conservation and Management of
Archaeological Sites 19 (1): 82-95.
3D imaging in NW Spain
Photogrammetry and digital image
enhancement in combination with
image enhancement tools are used to
improve visualisation and analysis of
degradation by delamination and
water runoff.
Fernndez-Lozanoa, J. at al. 2017.
3D digital documentation and image
enhancement integration into
schematic rock art analysis and
preservation: The Castrocontrigo
Neolithic rock art (NW Spain) Journal
of Cultural Heritage 26: 1606.

Palm measurements predict sex
Geometric morphometric techniques
were used to assess the sex of the
makers of hand stencils. Sex was
correctly predicted in over 90% of the
sample. The form of the palm is
particularly sexually dimorphic.
Nelson, E. et al. 2017. Beyond size:
The potential of a geometric
morphometric analysis of shape and
form for the assessment of sex in hand
stencils in rock art. Journal of
Archaeological Science 78: 20213.
Rock art depicts social change in
northern Chile
Analysis of rock art scenes at six sites
suggests increasing focus on the
control and protection of camelids
despite no archaeological evidence
for domestication in the region.
Dudognon, C. & M. Seplveda. 2017
(in press). Rock art of the upper Lluta
valley, northernmost of Chile (South
Central Andes): A visual approach to
socio-economic changes between
Archaic and Formative periods
(6,0001,500 years BP). Quaternary
International.
Stylistic analysis of arid zone
rock art in Australia
This paper tests two style provinces
in the Australian Western Desert,
finding support for a phased art
sequence accompanying the first
peopling of Australias arid zones, and
evidence for earlier configurations of
arid-zone social networks.
McDonald, J. 2017. Discontinuities
in arid zone rock art: Graphic
indicators for changing social
complexity across space and through
time. Journal of Anthropological
Archaeology 46: 5367.

Acoustics and rock art. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Express Letters (JASA-EL) recently published four abstracts
exploring relationships between rock art and the acoustic properties of their locations.
Daz-Andreu, M. & T. Fazenda, B. M. 2017. Lubman, D. 2017. Did Rainio, R. et al. 2017.
Mattioli. 2017. Rock art Were Palaeolithic cave Palaeolithic cave artists Acoustic measurements at
and prehistoric sound- paintings placed because intentionally paint at the sacred sites in Finland
scapes: Some results from of acoustic resonances? resonant cave locations? JASA-EL 141, 4000;
Italy, France, and Spain. JASA-EL 141, 3999; JASA-EL 141, 3999; http://doi.org.ezphost.dur.
JASA-EL 141, 3999; http://doi.org.ezphost.dur. http://doi.org.ezphost.dur.a ac.uk/10.1121/1.4989170
http://doi.org.ezphost.dur ac.uk/10.1121/1.4989167 c.uk/10.1121/1.4989168
.ac.uk/10.1121/1.4989166

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 Issue No. 18: Autumn 2017

DATES for your DIARY: forthcoming conferences and other events

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

6th Nov 2017 Neolithic Studies Group Autumn Meeting

Extracting more than rock? Insights into the acquisition of stone and flint in the Neolithic
The British Museum, London.10:30am 5pm.
Booking deadline: 27th October
Please see http://www.neolithic.org.uk/meetings/84/autumn-meeting-2017-extracting-more-than-rock-
insights-into-the-acquisition-of-stone-and-flint-in-the-neolithic

9th 10th June 2018 British Rock Art Group Annual Conference
Ilkley, West Yorkshire
Theme: Rock art in the landscape
Call for papers. Please contact: aron.mazel@newcastle.ca.uk or george.h.nash@hotmail.com

29th Aug 2nd Sep 2018 20th International Rock Art Congress IFRAO 2018
Valcamonica, Italy
Deadline for papers: 30th November 2017
Theme: Standing on the shoulders of giants
See website for sessions: www.ccsp.it/web/Ifrao2018/IFRAO2018_eng.html

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. 19: 16th March 2018

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