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Cup and Ring Marks / Rock Art

Fieldnotes

Interesting new panel from today ,some typical rock art that includes what could be a "footprint " but also a millstone which obviously could date from much later . Sorry can't give proper grid ref yet , hence Bog etc. tiompan Posted by tiompan
11th September 2014ce
Edited 11th September 2014ce

Comments (4)

The millstone buried beside the panel is very interesting. When the excavation is done do you think they'll be able to date when it was buried? And maybe tell whether the covering over of the panel was deliberate? And, if I may, when a 'new' find is found, does not the very act of finding interfere with the archaeology? ryaner Posted by ryaner
12th September 2014ce
There might never be an excavation ,rock art panels rarely are excavted . The millstone is still attached to the bedrock . I think the markings on the groove around the millstone were made by metal tools ,if this is confirmed then we would have stone and metal use reflecting their different period of production .
It wouldn't be the first time that different periods of use are found on the same surface . Bench marks and Christian crosses are sometimes found on rock art panels .
The act of finding a previously undiscovered panels changes the status of what was part of the landscape to an aretefact /monument i.e. non-archaeological to archaeological .
tiompan Posted by tiompan
12th September 2014ce
"The millstone is still attached to the bedrock"

Wow, that's something else. Has anything similar ever been found? Milling grain on a rock art panel? I have seen crosses and suchlike, but a 'working', utilitarian dimension is a first for me.

My last question wasn't phrased correctly: I meant that in trying to find these panels, in the digging and revealing of them, do we not break the code of 'take only memories, leave only footprints'? Which is not to say that I believe that you, or I, should not pull back the turf on prospective rocks – just that this latest find of yours, with the millstone attached, seems very important and could do with a 'serious' excavation. I am aware that there is a contradiction at the core of this, that we'd never know of the panel had the turf not been pulled back, but I'd never ascribed this 'utilitarian' aspect to rock art before, preferring the decorative, doodle theory.

Which leads me to this: the act of carving the rock art has transformed what was a piece of bedrock into a 'sacred' 'site' – i.e. that the act of carving/picking 'gives' the rock significance. Hence the desire to mill whatever it was that was milled here.

Sorry for going on etc.
ryaner Posted by ryaner
12th September 2014ce
Bench marks and crosses are sometimes found on rock art panels as are quarrying in association with outcrops with RA .
There may be millstones too ,possibly in Northumberland ?

I prefer the decorative /doodle etc to utilitarian ,or more to the point what utility could be ascribed to the markings that couldn't be easily refuted ?

It's Schroedingers cat stuff , if you don't lift the turf it's only a rock but lifting the turf collpases the state vector .

The creation of the millstone could be seen as similar to quarrying , in fact a lot of quarrying has gone in the immediate area too , the millstone carvers would likely have been long after the RA engravers and would have noticed the rock art but it was a useful surface .

Not going on ,no problem .It's a very intersting site ,at least to some of us .
tiompan Posted by tiompan
12th September 2014ce
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