250 more mysterious prehistoric carvings found

<body leftmargin="0" bgcolor="#000060" text="#FFFFFF" link="#FFFF00" vlink="#FF9900"> <b> <p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="4">250 more mysterious prehistoric carvings found </font></p> </b> <p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="1">Posted Jan. 14, 2005<br> Courtesy the University of Newcastle upon Tyne<br> and World Science staff</font><b> <font size="2" face="Arial"><br> <br> Archaeologists say they have found more than 250 of England’s most beautiful prehistoric rock carvings, near the Scottish border. The carvings are similar to ones that have been found before, but experts still can’t figure out who made them and what they mean. </font></b> </p> <b> <p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2">The archaeologists, from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K. found them in the process of compiling a database of the mysterious carvings that goes on the Internet today.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2">The abstract artworks, which archaeologists call “cup and ring carvings” because of their resemblance to those shapes, are believed to be the work of people living between 6000 and 3500 years ago. This time period covers part of the Neolithic era – which is the latest part of the Stone Age – and the Bronze Age, a time period which followed the Neolithic and was characterized by the first manufacture of metal tools and weapons.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2">Over 1,000 of the ‘cup and ring’ carvings can be seen on the new website. It includes the 250 panels unearthed during a two-and-a-half year trawl of some of England’s remotest countryside, in the expansive moorlands of Northumberland.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2">Among the new discoveries is a collection at Goatstones, near Wark, where 14 carved stones were spotted and recorded for the first time. Elsewhere in the county, a local farmer alerted the team to seven panels on his land, which had not been previously recorded, experts said.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2">The website is at http://rockart.ncl.ac.uk.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2">The site featuries around 6,000 images, including 360 degree photographs (‘bubbleworlds’) showing rock art in its landscape setting, drawings, digital images, and digitised slides and negatives. It also features video and audio clips.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2">Project leader, Aron Mazel, of Newcastle University’s School of Historical Studies, said: “It’s incredibly important that we are aware of our heritage, not least because it helps us understand our own origins and identities. Our team has spent the last few years on a prehistoric ‘adventure’ and now we’re at the stage where we can share our finds with others.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2">“There are likely to be more carved stones there hidden under the undergrowth so we’re sure this is not the end of the story,” said Dr Mazel, adding that he hoped that the information presented on the website would encourage further research.</font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2">Stan Beckensall added: “One of the key aims was to promote widespread enjoyment of this fascinating part of our history, and the web was the obvious medium to reach out to the 21st century historian, amateur and professional alike.</font></p> <font face="Arial" size="2">“I’m sure the artists who hammered their symbols on the stones thousands of years ago, on their windswept moorland settlements, never imagined their work would become such a world phenomenon as this!”</font> </b> <p><font size="2" face="Arial"><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/world-science">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/world-science</a></font></p> </body>