Re: Rock art. so what's that all about then. ? | Forum

Rock art. so what's that all about then. ?

Kozmik_Ken Jul 19, 2010 22:42:50

Replying to Hob

Then of course there is always regional variations to consider. Where as West Yorkshire RA is mostly composed of single cups, meandering grooves and the occasional ring (sometimes two) multiple rings are rare. I can only think of a handful of examples in WY - whereas multiple rings are much more common in Northumbria and Scotland. Then of course there are complete swerveballs such as the Ilkley Ladder, the 'pitchfork' motif and plane old oddness like the Hangingstones design. All within a few hundred yeards on the northern edge of Ilkley Moor.

I also don't see any problem with RA having multiple purposes too. rather than single definitions.

Resonox Jul 20, 2010 05:44:21

Replying to Kozmik_Ken

Sometimes you really have to look hard to find some of the markings(perhaps they were easier to see when originally done..eg the stone has since toppled) and some are over lapping(almost obliterating) existing markings.Gouging the rock of course has more permanence than daubing with dye/blood/dung/chalk etc..some are obvious representations of animal/bird/man..but the circles and lines are intruiging
A nice idea if they were an early indicator of settlements for trading purposes(an early Yellow Pages)..didn't someone(early archeologist??) suggest that they might've been representations of sunrise/set?
A nicer idea would be if they were some kind of blueprint for circle building, which eventually took on a mystic meaning as the skill was waning...but they don't give that as an obvious impression.
Again sometimes you'll find a single cup with no other markings on a rock...could it have been a bored traveller just putting his mark there whilst sheltering from rain?
Maybe some rocks had pebbles embedded in them and these were removed(aesthetic or mystic purposes???) leaving a cup mark which someone of an artistic bent copied and the fad caught on???
More questions than answers ;0)

moss Jul 20, 2010 08:16:18

Replying to Kozmik_Ken

Talking of regional differences, apparently some of the Irish tombs had 'patterns' of boulders under or by the great tombs, not stone circles but decoration, very similar to what you find on the RA at Newgrange, and a theory put forward that the concentric circles motif with a linear line through is supposed to represent the passage graves.
And to quote Richard Bradley " the gapped circle, with a radial line leading to its centre, is one of the dominant images in Irish RA"...

Jane Jul 20, 2010 16:49:06

Replying to Kozmik_Ken

Kozmik_Ken wrote:

I also don't see any problem with RA having multiple purposes too. rather than single definitions.

On my travels I've seen a number of different kinds of rock art ranging from cup marks (which seem to be global) to cups with rings, lines and 'abstract' designs to depictions of actual things (animals, people, spears). Many of which have very different uses.

In Polynesia we saw cup marks which had been made to mix herbs to create tattooing inks and for grinding colours. In southern Africa and the middle east we saw depictions of prey animals, these are common in Europe too. Some corkers in Scandinavia I believe... In South Africa we saw cup marks which were used as board games, using pebbles as 'counters'. And some of the random designs we saw in Namibia was *EXACTLY* like stuff you see in northern England and Scotland. It was surprising to see it next to glyphs of lions, rhinos and penguins.

I think rock art could be diagrammatically expressed mapping, too, using signs and symbols we just can't read any more because the landscape has changed so much. Or perhaps it didn't map the landscape, but family connections, tribal lineage, ownership of stock, etc, etc.

Whatever rock art was I certainly enjoy seeking it out. I'm REALLY looking forward to seeing the Nazca lines in September. Check out that giant hummingbird! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazca_Lines

Hob Jul 20, 2010 22:25:47

Replying to Kozmik_Ken

You know, I've still not been to Ilkley. I am missing out I know. Seeing those images you put on Flickr I really do get a sense of how much oompf those moors have.

I think you're spot on with the multi-layered meaning thing. The general idea seems to have caught on in academic RA circles too. Anything so abstracted can easily contain at least a few possible interpretations. it could even be that they have a capacity similar to the Rorschach images, in that the meaning is partly something that is determined by the viewer. Perhaps part of the function was to allow the viewer to suggest their interpretation, so that interpretation could be used to assess the viewer's state of mind, like a prehistoric Rorschach. Sort of 'Is the cup half full, or is the cup half empty?' And with that bad pun, I reach for my coat...