Rock art on Amersidelaw, 195m north west of Achnacarry Plantation

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Overview

Prehistoric rock art comprising a large panel of Neolithic/early Bronze Age date (approximately 3800 BC to 1500 BC). Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1417672
Date first listed:: 06-Mar-2014

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Scheduled Monument
List Entry Number:: 1417672
Date first listed:: 06-Mar-2014
Location Description:

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District:: Northumberland (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Chatton
National Grid Reference:: NU0749726715

Summary

Prehistoric rock art comprising a large panel of Neolithic/early Bronze Age date (approximately 3800 BC to 1500 BC).

Reasons for Designation

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION: The prehistoric rock art 195m north west of Achnacarry Plantation is scheduled for the following principal reasons: * Survival: despite their susceptibility to natural weathering, this rock art panel is reasonably well preserved and the motifs are clearly defined and set in a complex arrangement; * Documentation: ritual and religious sites of Prehistoric Britain are without contemporary documentation and hence the value of the archaeological remains as our only evidence of their belief systems is enhanced; * Diversity: a wide variety of motifs are represented ranging from the relatively common cups and rings set in complex arrangements to the rare motifs such as sub-rectangular grooves; * Potential: it will contribute to our knowledge of prehistoric society through individual study of the motifs present, and through an increased understanding of the circumstances in which rock art was created and used; * Group value: this is one of four panels identified on Amersidelaw, which taken as a group, will enhance both our understanding of the inter-relationships between individual panels, and their relationship to the wider landscape.

History

The term prehistoric rock art is most commonly applied to a specific style of carvings created in the Neolithic and early Bronze Age (approximately 3800 BC to 1500 BC). This type of carving shares a limited set of motifs, with numerous variations around the main themes, and is found throughout northern Europe in a wide range of contexts, from isolated natural outcrops to burial cairns and standing stones. The most common form of motifs are the simple ‘cup mark’ (a shallow bowl-shaped depression a few centimetres across ) and the ‘cup and ring’ (a cup mark surrounded by one or more concentric circular grooves); many carvings also incorporate or are framed within linear grooves. Other shapes and patterns such as keyholes and rosettes also occur, but are less frequent. Motifs may occur singly, in small groups, or may cover extensive areas of rock surface. The exact meaning of the designs remains unknown and a wide range of interpretations have been suggested, but they appear to be abstract and held some unknown, possibly sacred meaning for those who created and observed them. Over 5000 separate rock art sites are known in Britain of which more than half are in England and while some examples do occur further south, they are mainly confined to the upland areas of the north.

The rock art on Amersidelaw was discovered by a local shepherd and recorded by Stan Beckensall in 1982 in advance of afforestation. It was re-surveyed by The Northumberland and Durham Rock Art Project (NADRAP) between 2005 and 2008.

Details

Principal elements: rock art comprising a large panel of Neolithic/early Bronze Age date (approximately 3800 BC to 1500 BC).

Description: this is one of four separate panels on Amerside Law, a peninsular-like projection of the main Fell Sandstone Group ridge to the west; it is roughly flat-topped with steep slopes to the north, west and south with the rock art panels found above the slopes. The ground falls away more gently to the east, before rising to the main ridge.

The single panel (ERA 202) measures about 4.6m by 3m with fissures running north to south; it has a complex of at least 15 motifs, some of unusual form and it is thought that several different phases of carvings are displayed. At the south end a large ring encloses a cup and ring and a further cup while a curvilinear groove runs from the outer ring to the south. The largest motif 70cm across comprises a large ringed motif incorporating a ring, two cups and, placed centrally, a cup and a ring; a faint groove forms a loop and runs out from the central cup west, through the outer rings, enclosing three further cups. To the north east, a sub-rectangular groove about 60cm across encloses a cup and ring with an eroded looped groove running out to the west. Other motifs to the north, include two small cups with rings, a cup with two arcs, a cup with one arc and a further arc, all probably complete rings originally. Another example of a circular groove enclosing multiple cups and a ring can be seen north west of the sub-rectangular motif and at the south end of the panel a large ring encloses a cup and ring and a further cup; a curvilinear groove runs from the outer ring to the south. Several other cups, some deep are scattered about the stones surface.

Extent of scheduling: circular with a diameter of 10m to enclose the full extent of the panel and the surrounding archaeologically sensitive areas.

Sources

Books and journals
Beckensall, S, Northumberland's Prehistoric Rock Carvings: A Mystery Explained , (1983), 163-6
Beckensall, S, Prehistoric Rock Motifs of Northumberland Volume 1, (1991), 51; 57
Mazel, et al (eds), Art as Metaphor: The Prehistoric Rock-Art of Britain, (2007)
Websites
, accessed from http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/era/section/access/results.jsf
Other
Northumberland HER ID: 3436, 3437,3438,

Legal

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.