This was the second panel of rock art on the itinerary of the Rock Art Meet 2007. The bushes meant that only three or four people could visit at a tme, so the viewing was done in shifts.
It tripped off the continuation of a discussion that's been bubbling for a couple of years now, due to the way in which the complex three lobed motif at the centre of the panel emerges from a substantial natural cleft.
If there is anything in the theory that natural features, particularly fissures/clefts, influenced the choice of the rock to be marked, then the subsequent placing of motifs, then this panel is a good example.
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The county SMR describes this as:
"A tree-covered round barrow of earth and stones, 22.45 m in diam, 2.21 m high with what appears to be a surrounding ditch 0.20 m deep and bank, 1.10 m max. width and 0.20 m high"
A quick look at some satellite images shows that it's not tree covered, and that the bank and ditch are just visible.
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An image of a panel at Pazos de Borbén (Pontevedra) displaying a similar theme to the highly unusual motifs at High Banks.
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I'm embarrassed to say that I couldn't find this one. I think I must have been on the wrong path. I hope so, I'd hate to think it's gone.
I hope that if it has been moved, it's somewhere safe.
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If you want to see one of the most peculiar cairns the north of England has to offer, come here.
As stated below, the variety of rock art is top notch, with many motifs, of all different designs and execution. But don't be distracted by the bvious carvings, there are a few heavily eroded complex ones to be found on the northern side of the cairn. These are at one end of the extant spectrum of visibility at thi site, with the other end being occupied by the most in-yer-face motif, which looks susiciously as if it's been re-touched at some point in the distant past. Much the same as one nearby at West Horton
But the thing that makes this cairn odd is the large number of portable marked stones found during excavation. It's generally a workable rule of thimb that portable cup marked stones in cairns are associated with some kind of funereal function, like those on the underside of cist covers. But the carn here yielded absolutely no sign of any burials at all, not even a bit of burnt bone, nor potsherd.
This doesn't mean it wasn't of course, but it certainly adds to the ambience of the place to think that it's maning, and the meanings of the carvings, is so obscurely lost in the mists of time, that it defies even the most general of generalisations.
Access does require getting in touch with the farm though, they're quite keen on that, as they usually have livestock in the field.
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The marked stone is nicely looked after in it's own puropse built niche in a wall. Apparently it was found in the field containing Shortflatt barrow, just to the east. Stan Beckensall has recorded three other cup-marked stones from the area, all of which are also in private hands.
This is definitely one that visitors should ask permission for before visiting, as it's very much on private property.
I was struck by the strange veneer of reddish stuff that looked as if it had been splatterred onto the carved surface. No idea at all what it might be, but it doesn't look like a natural feature.
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Marked on the map as a Tumulus, as it's never been dug, this is apparently a bona fide bronze age burial mound. There are traces of a ditch, and the remains of stone kerbs, though the latter are a bit obscured by the field clearance dumped on the mound.
It's got a good line of sight to nearby Shaftoe Crags, and particularly to the striking natural feature of The Piper's chair, on the horizon. Maybe this had something to do with the choice of this spot for a mound?
It does bear a striking resemblance to the nearby Poind and his man, only without the standing stone. Who knows, maybe one there was a stone here too, a few standing stones in the area have gone walkabout, see Wallington and Middleton for examples.
The field just to the NW of the mound has turned up a few examples of portable rock art over the years, thought to be from now vanished cairns. There are still many large clearance stones dotted all over the immediate vicinity.
Nice to see the sturdy fence protecting the mound from the drepidations of cattle.
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The thing that struck me today about this site, is that it forms a point in a straight line across from Fowberry Mains to Coldmartin Lough. Also on the same line, to within a few metres, are Whitsunbank 3 and Fowberry cairn.
I've never been a great believer in Watkinsesque straight line stuff, but sometimes I do wonder. 4 points on a straight line. Would this be enough to discount random chance? Hmmm.
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Who the heck found this one?!?!
It's underneath a boulder, with only about 2 inches clearance, so you can just see it.
You have to admire the thouroughness with which this area has been surveyed.
There is another carving here, but I was in a bit of a rush, so missed it this time. Pictures can be seen on the BRAC link below.
There's also what looks like a standing stone between the carved boulder and the trees.
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I like the Prehistoric Rock Art of Northumberland:
Ketley Crag
Chatton
Weetwood Moor
Dod Law
Roughting Linn
Lordenshaw
Fowberry Cairn
Hunterheugh
Old Bewick
Morwick
Currently obsessed with waving torches at things, often including rocks, as a prelude to some serious waving of torches at rocks that will inevitably appear here on tma at some point :)
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