Bradley (1997) makes a number of specific references to Cumbria throughout his research into the western prehistoric rock-art tradition. When dealing with the spiral motifs of the Boyne Valley, Ireland, Bradley shows that this tradition is also found across the Irish Sea in western areas of Britain. Cumbria contains a large number of spiral motifs, on stones, within monumental complexes; Long Meg, Little Meg, Glassonby and Castlerigg. Furthermore, the
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destroyed sites of Kirkoswald and Mayburgh may have shared similar idiosyncratic motifs with sites in Ireland (1997, 113-114). Bradley shows that in order to understand not only the developments in rock-art, but also the wider Neolithic, one cannot ignore Irish influences in Cumbria. Developing the idea of the ‘public art’ of the Boyne Valley, Bradley shows how such art types (decorated carved stones found in Passage Graves in Ireland) may have created thresholds, or that open air rock-art- and Irish megalithic styles- may be a reflection of designs that show similarities to those found on Grooved Ware pottery (Bradley 1997, 64).
Figure 4.6 Long Meg and the Eden Valley Landscape (Retrieved from www.heritageaction .files.wordpress.com/2012/10/longmegbriankerr2.jpg) [Accessed on 5th February 2014].
Moving away from Cumbria’s wider Irish Sea connections, Bradley discusses the rock-art’s relationship to the landscape. There appear to be few similarities between the landscape position of rock-art in the central fells, compared with the positioning of rock-art in the eastern regions of the Pennines, or in Northumberland (Bradley 1997). Cumbrian cup marked rock-art tends to be found on landscape entrances of the central fells, at a height of no more than 250m- close to the valley floor. Thus, the cup and line marked rocky outcrops- on the entrances to the
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central fells- can be considered a defining characteristic of Cumbrian rock-art. This cup and line, as opposed to the cup and ring style of other regions, is significant and will be discussed further, in relation to discourses, in chapter 5.
Moving on, Beckensall’s (2002) main focus is the recording of rock-art sites with minimal interpretation or wider conclusions vis–à–vis associations of the rock-art with material culture, or Neolithic monuments. Although Beckensall’s focus is on discovery and documentation of the rock-art, he does allow for some interpretation as to how and why rock-art existed in prehistoric Cumbria. Beckensall suggests ‘that marked rocks follow a route way that also provides a good viewpoint up and down the valley that would have been the most obvious path through the mountains, and a link with the rich fishing and hunting grounds’ (2002, 32). Here, Beckensall connects Cumbrian rock-art to the idea that it was located on prehistoric route ways into the landscape- an idea also covered by Bradley (1991; 1997).
The main patterns of Cumbrian rock-art are that cups and swirls are never found together, with mostly cups being found in a landscape context. Secondly, swirls are nearly always found with rings, penannulars and half ovoid motifs. This is a reflection of a more ‘complex’ series of rock carvings that are found mostly in monumental contexts. It is significant that swirls seem to be found with more complicated patterns and motifs - this represents a ‘passage grave’ tradition, and is found elsewhere around the Irish Sea. On the other hand, cup and line styles are found in the Central Fells and seem to differ from the more common ‘cup and ring’ styles, for example, of the Pennines and Cheviot.
Moving away from recording and back to landscapes, Sharpe’s (2007) work is a detailed investigation of Cumbria’s rock-art, and its relationship with the landscape. The landscape setting of rock-art, in the county, can be divided into two main regions; that of the central fells and its rocky outcrops, and an easterly Eden valley monumental style. In terms of the central fells style, Sharpe has noted that sites were not chosen for their remoteness, as they are
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generally low lying, accessible and close to water (2007, 285). More specifically, all are within 1km of a lake and are close to the beck that feeds the lake. Furthermore, they are, unsurprisingly, surrounded by mountains, and lie between 9-18 km from the central Cumbrian massif and the outlying fells.
The other major rock-art style dealt with by Sharpe, is that found along the Eden Valley to the east of the cup marked outcrop zone. Although not explicitly stated, Sharpe suggests that the first monuments established in this region-towards the late 4th millennium BC- reflect an east-
west dynamic (Figure 4.7) in Cumbria, since monumental types (henges, stone circles, stone avenues and enclosures) reflect both western Irish Sea and East Pennine traditions in the Eden valley (2007, 393). This is reflected in the nature of the rock-art here as ‘the carvings on megaliths, kerbstones, standing stones and slab walls share passage grave affinities’ (2007, 389).
In terms of the wider archaeological narrative, Sharpe suggests that the Central Fells traditions have certain Irish Sea and wider Atlantic affinities (also suggested by Bradley (1997)). Sharpe specifically suggests a parallel between the central Cumbrian tradition and that of Loch Tay in Perthshire (although, whilst this region is not that close the Irish Sea, it still may have had cultural connections). On the other hand, Sharpe also considers the internal dynamics of cup marked stones, suggesting that the making, or marking, of ‘place’ within ‘space’ cultured the landscape. Thus, the stone panels could have acted as a kind of proto-monument, or pre- Neolithic megalith (see also Bradley 1998; Scarre 2002; Sherratt 1990; Tilley 1996a)
Sharpe then considers the rock-art of the Eden Valley, which is located on monuments and created some time after the initial movements of stone axes (suggested by Sharpe to have been around the late 4th millennium BC) by people approaching Great Langdale from the east (2007, 393). Furthermore, during the later 4th millennium and into the 3rd millennium BC, the
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monuments and their rock-art functioned as part of a well established exchange network, seen in Figure 4.7. Thus, places like Copt Howe in Great Langdale- whose design is reminiscent of the Megalithic art of the wider Irish Sea- may have given the carvers a level of prestige at being connected to a wider Neolithic world.
Figure 4.7 Axe production sites and their relationship to some monumental rock-art sites in Cumbria (Sharpe 2008, Figure 1).
Looking at just one site-Copt Howe- Sharpe (2007b) suggests that some of the motifs may mimic large-scale topographic features. In a sense, the rock-art motifs are a condensing of the wider landscape and topographic features, in the rock-art narrative. Sharpe also suggests that
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the rock-art at Copt Howe is a representation of the movement of the sun across Harrison Stickle. This is a suggestion that begins to question the idea that all British rock-art is abstract and may have had a representational purpose.
Finally, Barrowclough (2010) reiterates many of the ideas of the previous three authors; that the rock-art was located along movements into and out of the landscape, towards and away from the axe quarry sites of the central fells. Barrowclough cements his understanding firmly in the landscape framework by suggesting that ‘the practice of decorating the landscape was therefore a means of ordering the landscape and orienting the individual within’ (2010, 138). Barrowclough makes some interesting observations (drawing on Bradley 2000, 126-8) regarding the colour of stone used within a monumental context- such as at Castlerigg. Unfortunately, he fails to extend these observations to other non-stone circle rock-art sites.
4.2.3 Summary
Current understandings of rock-art in Cumbria, like the rest of Britain, are firmly rooted in the landscape. The fairly unique characteristic of the Cumbrian landscape means that wider landscape comparison- with other British and Irish regions- is not productive. On the other hand, the location of the rock-art sites in the Central Fells shows us that movement into and out of this region, along the radial valleys, was very important. In an attempt to extend the landscape methodology, Sharpe has, in some ways, attempted to internalise the ‘landscape’ into the rock-art itself, by suggesting that the motifs at Copt Howe may have been a reflection of the sun’s movement across the mountains.
Another dynamic is the relationship that the rock-art has with other regions. The influence of Irish Passage Grave motifs, on the monumental art, seems significant. Passage Graves are known to have an earlier Neolithic date to the south in Iberia. By the time they reach Ireland they seem to be dated around the Middle/Late Neolithic (Nash 2006: 210). By the time this
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style of art reaches Cumbria, it can be assumed that it is Late Neolithic,-perhaps continuing into the EBA. The Passage Grave style found in the Eden Valley, within monumental contexts that are Late Neolithic and EBA, supports this. This, however, leaves the question open as to the dating of the art in the Central Fells, found in open-air contexts. The cup and line style of Cumbria differs from the cup and rings to the east and along the Atlantic. Given its naturalism and association with the axe quarries, it can be assumed that this art is perhaps Early Neolithic. Thus, it may be (tentatively) suggested that there is a chronological development of style and form with central Cumbrian cup and line art- being older than that found on monuments. This dynamic will be explored, in more detail, in chapter 5.
Finally, it is felt two key issues have not been addressed in relation to the art in Cumbria; firstly, the relationship between natural fissures/scarring and the rock-art that is often placed purposely within- and secondly, what basic motifs and design forms can be identified and how they are arranged to create meaning (in essence, what the structure of the art is). These two issues are intimately connected and will be explored in the next section.