Issue No 7: Autumn 2012

Issue No. 7: Spring 2012

Rock Articles
Kate April 2012 kesharpe@live.co.uk

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 doesnt interfere too much with rock art related activities! If you do visit any sites and happen to notice any problems with the panels Id 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!

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 Februarys 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.
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Issue No 7: Autumn 2012

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. Marks dissertation was a runner up in the 2011 competition for the Prehistoric Societys 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 arts 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 farmers 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.

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Issue No 7: Autumn 2012

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, predating 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 Sanchidrin, 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 Sanchidrin 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-cavepaintings-discovered-in-spain.html

Image credit: Nerja Cave Foundation

Saving Zambias 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-africa16095888 Detail of artwork by Zenzele Chulu

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-recordedin-mexico

Image credit: Carlos Viramontes / INAH

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Issue No 7: Autumn 2012

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 Australias Spirit website: www.protectaustraliasspirit.com.au

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.

A perspective view of the laser scan data captured at the Tutuveni Hopi Petroglyph Site. Image: CyArk

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

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Issue No 7: Autumn 2012

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 well 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

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Issue No 7: Autumn 2012

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

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

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

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

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Issue No 7: Autumn 2012

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 panels 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.

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Issue No 7: Autumn 2012

New Investigations At Tortie Cottage

Andy Curtis, volunteer with the Altogether Archaeology Project.
Since the Northumberland & Durham Rock Art Project Ive had a couple of years off the subject. Strange how it never really goes away though. Theres still the annual RAM to attend. It was very sad this year in the heavy Lordenshaw rain when Jans 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 Stans fault. His little blue and yellow volumes on Northumberland rock art bought years back in Newcastle University Archaeology Department. Even NADRAPs workload didnt 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 didnt 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. Dont 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.

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Issue No 7: Autumn 2012

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 were 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 suns 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 dont get that in a museum. With luck, well never find the Rosetta Stone or know the final answer to who or why, because then perhaps, some of that magic will be lost.

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Issue No 7: Autumn 2012

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 years 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_univer sity_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

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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-DiscoveringGreatest/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 nave 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 doesnt 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

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