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Cup and Ring Marks / Rock Art
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A patch of overgown outcrop about 2m from the road. It's just by the steam, directly below the telegraph pole. I spotted 2 sets of carvings, quite clear they are too. Only got pics of the top one on the flat the other is below it, to the left as you're looking towards the road. It surprised me to see a cup with 5 rings, yet the overall diameter was only about 30cm. Quite a tightly executed bit of rock art, precision stuff, very discrete. Especially when compared to the larger, more easily visible 5 ring motifs that exist in Northumberland and Argyll. They're so neatly done, I couldn't quite convince myself that they weren't incised, rather than pecked.
It's almost in a different 'tradition' entirely. Made me think about the theories that RA was intended for a limited audience, and that needing to know the location of a panel was an integral part of the meaning of the things. Allegedly, the more complex a motif, the smaller the intended/permitted audience.
The Ordnance Survey and Garmin have seriously undermined that aspect of these enigmatic carvings, but even with the internet adding to this effect (NX 6033 4836), 'limited audience' is probably still quite applicable. I reckon it's just nice to know they're still where they've always been, even after all these years.
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Posted by Hob
26th August 2005ce
Edited 27th August 2005ce
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