Because it is childrens chalk which will have been washed off already by the first rain of which we have lots on Rombalds moor.

A simple photo does not show what is there.

I am following the methods used be Boughey et al as described in Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding p121. I may try to get the high tech version of chalk described there described

There is absolutely no way anyone will find these roocks without a GPS and a rough idea of what they are looking for. I have stood on top of a rock found with a GPS and wondered where that damn rock is until Uven with PRAWR in my hand, I have had to think hard about what I was looking at.

RombaldII

I am SHOCKED SHOCKED SHOCKED by this

I personally would like to say how completely SHOCKED I am at this.

Did I mention I am SHOCKED?

I have been doing a little research. CCSP are the world leaders in the study of Rock Art. Their "about us" page http://www.rockart-ccsp.com/about.en.html shows their Scientific director Prof Emmanuel Anati siting on a rock looking at chalked up rock art. Two photos below clearly shows persons complete with chalk marking up a rock

Their events page http://www.rockart-ccsp.com/events.en.html 2004 main events page top photograph shows a woman clearly marking up a rock.

If it is good enough for the world leaders, and the author of the definitive book on the subject, it is good enough for me.

I have done some experiments and find that a little water will remove chalk from stone without problems, so I can remove all trace of the marking. before leaving

I know very little about rock art, but the whole chalking thing seems like an unnecessary process.

If in doubt it's always a good idea to read the Terms and Conditions before submitting material to this site. They're an easy going set of rules, and one of the points they include asks us to...

"Respect the sacredness of these temples and the land on which they stand."

It strikes me that RombaldII isn't trying to cause offense to anyone, but the end result is that he has. Easily done I guess.

I think most of us would like to welcome you to TMA RombaldII, but ask that you omitt chalking from your TMA posts. I may be going out on a limb here (and I'm sure some of you feel very strongly about this) but surely the 'welcome' bit is the most important mesage we should be sending RombaldII.

K x

Just as a by-the-by - how does chalk react with rocks when dissolved with water? I know in the dales most of the erosion is caused by disolved carbonic acid, but I think this has to be formed in the atmosphere in storm conditions - what about simple chalk?

RII - On a kind of housekeeping note, are all the sites supposed to be 'nested' like they are? (like at http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/7354)

Or (as I suspect?) should they all be separate inside the Rombald's Moor section?

And please, won't you really consider laying off the chalk, as all these good people have requested? Isn't some of the beauty of the carvings that they are unclear and softened by time? A sketch is so much nicer, or Hob's water idea. I would hate to trudge miles to see some rock art and be confronted by such a sight.

(not directed at RombaldII but a general comment - You can call me a stupid hippy and I know these stones need some kind of designation. But I just don't like them having a number (especially on the stones! shock horror). It's just so anoraky. (I realise they're miles from anything with a name, no doubt). I don't suppose there's much romance in them when you visit them in the pouring rain with leaky boots. But these things aren't about a number, surely. They took effort to do so they must be in that spot for a reason.)

I still believe that some indication of what is there should be included in at least one photograph. PRAWR is IMO very bad at that, for the less impressive stones. Many have only a description, and I have found the illustrations while no doubt correct, do not give a good impression.

How about using white tac to indicate what is there (same as Blue Tac but white) the idea is to outline things with small blobs of white tac to show the outline of whatever one finds, photograph it and remove the white tac which comes off dead easy.
Delicate is the last word I would use the describe Millstone grit which is IME *very* strong and tough.

Many thanks for the concrete suggestions among the flames ;-) I will deal with wach individually

Paint with Water. Worth a try on the rare occasions when we have dry rock, I'll give it a whirl

Sketch cups and rings. Non starter. My artistic ability is close to zero.

Use low angle evening light. Limits the number of rocks which can be recorded in a day to one. Even with off camera slave flash there are some places where the prehistoric work is only detectable by feel and invisible to low angle light

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4125078.stm

There, just take your laser scanner with you.