Ancient British Rock Art

Britain hides a remarkable native artistic tradition mysterious rock carvings which date far back into the misty age of stone circles. In some parts of Scotland you can dig up the turf almost anywhere to find the ancient rocks beneath carpeted in these incredible glyphs.In this beautiful little book, artist and petroglyph hunter Chris Mansell discusses the possible purpose and meaning of these archaic and enigmatic markings, using his own drawings alongside exquisite rare old lithographs.

• 1 Slab from Sneem in the County of Kerry, Ireland
• 3 ancient BRITISH rock ART a GUIDE TO INDIGENOUS STONE CARVINGS Chris Mansell This edition Wooden B
• 4 CONTENTS Introduction 1 The distribution of rock art 4 Roughting Linn 6 Cups and Ri
• 6 7
• 1 Sitting on a hillside at one particularly extensive site near Kilmartin, early on a warm summers m
• 2 3 different styles. It seems somewhat surprising that, while so much is made of the cave painting
• 4 5 dIstrIbutIon of rock Art an overview of primary sites and styles The formal elements of rock car
• 6 7 The carvings shown here are from Roughting Linn, one of the largest known decorated outcrops, wh
• 8 9 Cups and rings is a generic term for a whole range of Neo lithic and Bronze Age rock carvings da
• 10 11 It seems strange that the subject of ancient British rock art is so roundly ignored by the con
• 12 13 The Clava Cairns, or Bulnaraun of Clava, consist of three cairns, two of which have passageway
• 14 15 The joining together of discrete visual elements with varying types of pathway is a developmen
• 16 17 This site consists of an alignment of quite large standing stones, averaging about twelve feet
• 18 19 The area surrounding Dod Law shows a great variety of carvings, once again on flat outcrops on
• 20 21 The Calderstones are the remains of a neolithic passage grave which was destroyed in 1845. Th
• 22 23 Ballygowan is one of a number of sites in the Kilmartin Valley which display considerable and
• 24 25 So far we have seen cups and rings mainly existing either alone or in combination. It is time
• 26 27 The tailed cup is a very prominent design element in many areas. Shown here are examples from
• 28 29 The Panorama Stone was named after the area where it was found on the edge of Rombalds Moor.
• 30 31 The complex and diverse arrangement of carvings on the facing page was revealed after a great
• 32 33 Long Meg is one of the largest stone circles in the British Isles and Meg, the single outlier
• 34 35 These images from the mid 19th century were originally printed using a specialist lithographic
• 36 37 This area of the Northumberland moors lies in the shadow of the Cheviot Hills and a wealth of
• 38 39 In some cases it is hard to dismiss the idea that the shape and natural structure of a rock mu
• 40 41 An interesting aspect of this subject is the distinct stylistic differences which exist not on
• 42 43 The spiral appears regularly in megalithic art at a range of locations, often in combination w
• 44 45 The triangle and its associated structures have long been dynamic elements which have been emp
• 46 47 The top two drawings on the page opposite resemble and may indeed represent stars. Below, thr
• 48 49 The complex mixture of symbols shown here extends the study of rock carvings into an area of g
• 50 51 The sheer quantity and quality of megalithic art in the Boyne Valley in Co. Meath emphasises t
• 52 53 At 9 a.m. on December 21st the dawn rays of the winter solstice sun enter the chamber at Newgr
• 54 55 Across the Channel, the extensive 3000 BC carvings at Gavrinis are particularly interesting in
• 56 IntErEstIng sItEs LocAtIons SITE OS REF. DERBYSHIRE Rowtor Rocks, Peak District

Chris Mansell