The Modern Antiquarian. Stone Circles, Ancient Sites, Neolithic Monuments, Ancient Monuments, Prehistoric Sites, Megalithic MysteriesThe Modern Antiquarian

Beckstones

Cup and Ring Marks / Rock Art

Fieldnotes

Walked from Hartsop to Beckstones, on my way to the hills, and called in to see the rock art. Arrived at the farm at the same time as a National Trust Landrover, with two people with enviable jobs within.
The first chap out was very helpful and enthusiastic, and was more than happy for me to go into the field enclosure (off the right of way) to see the rock art. He even knew it was prehistoric. "It's up theer, lad", he said, "supporsed t'be pre'istoric." I replied with "Ovver theer, up on th'mound?" To which he said "Aye, lad, it's on top o' that theer, jus' gerrup an' it's a few bits o' dimples in t' rock."
My heart sank - "...a few bits o' dimples in t' rock." And it was just that.
It's a small site to say the least, with cup-marks that were a little underwhelming, to me. No wonder it took so long to discover them.
Most are covered in moss, but is it ethical to clear the moss? I dug one or two out for photos.
About a quarter of a mile back there was a rock that someone had cleared some moss off, and that had, on first acquaintance a cup-mark. This, on closer inspection, looked more natural than man-made.
Having seen the Beckstones area, I am now even more confused as to what is natural and man-made. The big issue with cup-marks is the fact that with the Borrowdale Volcanic rocks there are so many natural cup-marks, that are attributed to volcanic gas bubbles. Having said that, the Beckstones cup-marks were fairly regular, but small.
The site is covered by trees, so photography is tricky, if your digital isn't set to what you thought it was, like mine.
So, apologies for the over-exposed photos, but they do give some sort of impression of what to expect. Thank goodness for the fact it rained hard last night, filling the cup-marks with water. The ones that I cleared the moss from don't show up much, but the puddles show up the others.
Further on, I looked over a garden wall, just below where the path from Pattrerdale ascends to Boredale Hause. Guess what? There's a rock slab in the garden with moss cleared off, and what looked to me to be cup-marks. I took a few photos from a distance, but will check t'internet to confirm my suspicions that this is another "Goldrill Beck" site, so the photos of that will have to wait.
The Eternal Posted by The Eternal
13th August 2005ce

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