Cairnfield with linear banks and carved rocks stretching from Woofa Bank to Green Crag

Reasons for Designation

Rombalds Moor is an eastern outlier of the main Pennine range lying between the valleys of the Wharfe and the Aire. The bulk of this area of 90 sq km of rough moorland lies over 200m above sea level. The moor is particularly rich in remains of prehistoric activity. The most numerous relics are the rock carvings which can be found on many of the boulders and outcrops scattered across the moor. Burial monuments, stone circles and a range of enclosed settlements are also known. Cairnfields are concentrations of cairns sited in close proximity to one another. They often consist largely of clearance cairns, built with stone cleared from the surrounding landsurface to improve its use for agriculture, and occasionally their distribution can be seen to define field plots. However, funerary cairns are also frequently incorporated, although without excavation it may be impossible to determine which cairns contain burials. Clearance cairns were constructed during the Neolithic period (from c.3400 BC), although the majority of examples appear to be the result of field clearance which began during the earlier Bronze Age and continued into the later Bronze Age (2000-700 BC). The considerable longevity and variation in the size, content and association of cairnfields provide important information on the development and associations of land use and agricultural practices. Cairnfields also retain information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisation during the prehistoric period.

Prehistoric rock carving is found on natural boulders and rock outcrops in many areas of upland Britain. It is especially common in the north of England in Northumberland, Durham, and North and West Yorkshire. The most common form of decoration is the `cup' marking, where small cup-like hollows are worked into the surface of the rock. These cups may be surrounded by one or more `rings'. Single pecked lines extending from the cup through the rings may also exist, providing the design with a `tail'. Other shapes and patterns also occur but are less frequent. Carvings may occur singly, in small groups, or may cover extensive areas of rock surface. They date to the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age periods (2800-c.500 BC) and provide one our most important insights into prehistoric `art'. The exact meaning of the designs remains unknown, but they may be interpreted as sacred or religious symbols. All positively identified prehistoric rock carvings sites will normally be identified as nationally important. This cairnfield survives well and displays many of the features typical of this type of monument. The presence of carved rocks within the cairnfield may be evidence of a link between rock carvings and other prehistoric features, or continuing use of the same area.

Details

The monument includes a cairnfield c.230m x 125m extending from Woofa Bank to Green Crag. It contains a minimum of 31 cairns, two carved rocks and a number of short stretches of linear bank. The cairns are between 2m and 6m in diameter, tending towards the larger end of this range. A number are irregular in shape, being more oval or crescent shaped than round. The linear banks are low, typically 2m wide and 0.25m high. They do not have a direct relationship with the cairns and may belong to a different period of use. Most of the banks are on the same (approximately south west to north east) alignment and may represent the robbed remains of a more extensive field system. The two carved rocks are earthfast boulders with extensive carvings in the cup and ring tradition

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

25310

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Hedges, J D (ed), The Carved Rocks on Rombalds Moor, (1986), 49
Hedges, J D (ed), The Carved Rocks on Rombalds Moor, (1986), 49
Hedges, J D (ed), The Carved Rocks on Rombalds Moor, (1986), 100

Other
Bannister, J, The Vegetation and Archaeology of Rombalds Moor (Phd thesis), 1986, Discussion

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