Re: More southern carvings | Forum — The Modern Antiquarian

tiompan Apr 16, 2007 15:13:38

Replying to juamei

juamei wrote:

tiompan wrote:

Lots .

1, 2, 3, lots?

We can't possibly tell what's under the turf/water or in an unexcavated barrow but areas like wessex that don't have outcrops of suitable surfaces for carving , do have carvings in monuments like barrows . Considering the amount of unexcavated barrows in the area I believe that the likelihood of finding more carved surfaces is quite high. You could draw an analogy with the Boyne passage graves which have a huge amount of carved surfaces but there are no open air outcrops or boulders with carvings to be found in the area .

FourWinds Apr 16, 2007 15:46:26

Replying to tiompan

tiompan wrote:

You could draw an analogy with the Boyne passage graves which have a huge amount of carved surfaces but there are no open air outcrops or boulders with carvings to be found in the area .

That really does depend upon how you define 'in the area'. There are plenty within 20 miles of Newgrange, but there is none in the immediate area. I believe the figure for Drumirril (32km away) is somewhere around 70 panels now.

There were even more until the mid 1980s when a whole load was dynamited to take advantage of government funded land clearance :-(

juamei Apr 16, 2007 17:46:54

Replying to tiompan

Whilst I agree there is probably more, i don't suspect there is much more tbh. Most of the Wessex barrows have been opened & surely we'd have heard more about them by now if there is carving in a lot of them. I can think of maybe 10-15 carvings around the whole of wessex that are known about.

Is that a lot for that size area?
:)