Dating and analysis of British prehistoric rock art: the Kilmartin Valley project
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Southampton
Department Name: Faculty of Humanities
Abstract
Dating and Analysis of British prehistoric rock art: the Kilmartin Valley project.
Summary of project
Introduction: The prehistoric rock art of northern Britain and Ireland is enigmatic. Images carved on rock are generally abstract in nature (so-called 'cup and ring marks'), and the chronological date of these images remains unknown. Scholars have debated their date, assuming either origins in the Neolithic or Bronze Age. A field project, based in the Kilmartin region, Argyll, Scotland set out to examine the issue of dating in the richest rock art landscape in the British Isles. Excavations around two rock art sites at Torbhlaren from 2004-2007 revealed several phases of activity associated with one of the sites, and potential evidence for prehistoric quarrying associated with the other site. An extensive assemblage of stone tools was excavated, both on the stone built platform surrounding one of the sites, and deposited in the rock fissures at both sites. The sites are unique in terms of the British Isles in producing this kind of material. The sites are therefore of national and international significance as they help us to understand the kinds of activity associated with prehistoric rock art, while excavated charcoal samples have the potential to provide radiocarbon dates. These would be among the first radiocarbon dates to be obtained from a British prehistoric rock art site.
Recording rock art: The rock art motifs at the sites were only partially recorded by the Royal Commission for Ancient and Historic Monuments Scotland (RCAHMS), and additional motifs were discovered during the field project. The motifs on the rock were re-recorded as part of the field project using an innovative technique, which allows them to be manipulated in a Computer Aided Design (CAD) package. Given the significance of the excavated material it is imperative that an accurate record of the rock art is related to the excavated features.
Proposed research: Excavations were completed in 2007 and the aim of the proposed project is to analyse the materials recovered from excavation, collate the results and publish the sites. The main analyses which need to be conducted are: 1. The publication and analysis of the sites in their regional landscape contexts. 2. Charcoal analysis and radiocarbon dating. 3. Stone tool analysis, to determine the function and purpose of the tools excavated from the rock art sites and their relationship to rock art production. 4. Reconstruction of the environmental context of the site, as the sites sit in a river valley it is important to determine their relationship to the local river, the River Add, in prehistory; also to determine whether the rock outcrops on which the art is carved are unusual for the region; and to relate buried soil associated with the sites to the pollen record for the region. 5. To produce a visual record of the rock art and its relationship to excavated features to compliment the written record. This is to be achieved by harmonising site records with the CAD images of rock art motifs to produce a full and accurate visual record of the sites.
Summary of project
Introduction: The prehistoric rock art of northern Britain and Ireland is enigmatic. Images carved on rock are generally abstract in nature (so-called 'cup and ring marks'), and the chronological date of these images remains unknown. Scholars have debated their date, assuming either origins in the Neolithic or Bronze Age. A field project, based in the Kilmartin region, Argyll, Scotland set out to examine the issue of dating in the richest rock art landscape in the British Isles. Excavations around two rock art sites at Torbhlaren from 2004-2007 revealed several phases of activity associated with one of the sites, and potential evidence for prehistoric quarrying associated with the other site. An extensive assemblage of stone tools was excavated, both on the stone built platform surrounding one of the sites, and deposited in the rock fissures at both sites. The sites are unique in terms of the British Isles in producing this kind of material. The sites are therefore of national and international significance as they help us to understand the kinds of activity associated with prehistoric rock art, while excavated charcoal samples have the potential to provide radiocarbon dates. These would be among the first radiocarbon dates to be obtained from a British prehistoric rock art site.
Recording rock art: The rock art motifs at the sites were only partially recorded by the Royal Commission for Ancient and Historic Monuments Scotland (RCAHMS), and additional motifs were discovered during the field project. The motifs on the rock were re-recorded as part of the field project using an innovative technique, which allows them to be manipulated in a Computer Aided Design (CAD) package. Given the significance of the excavated material it is imperative that an accurate record of the rock art is related to the excavated features.
Proposed research: Excavations were completed in 2007 and the aim of the proposed project is to analyse the materials recovered from excavation, collate the results and publish the sites. The main analyses which need to be conducted are: 1. The publication and analysis of the sites in their regional landscape contexts. 2. Charcoal analysis and radiocarbon dating. 3. Stone tool analysis, to determine the function and purpose of the tools excavated from the rock art sites and their relationship to rock art production. 4. Reconstruction of the environmental context of the site, as the sites sit in a river valley it is important to determine their relationship to the local river, the River Add, in prehistory; also to determine whether the rock outcrops on which the art is carved are unusual for the region; and to relate buried soil associated with the sites to the pollen record for the region. 5. To produce a visual record of the rock art and its relationship to excavated features to compliment the written record. This is to be achieved by harmonising site records with the CAD images of rock art motifs to produce a full and accurate visual record of the sites.
Organisations
Publications
Andrew Jones (Author)
The Environmental Sequence at Torbhlaren, Argyll, Scotland
Andrew Jones (Author)
Environmental Reconstruction in a Prehistoric Landscape
Freedman, Davina; Jones, Andrew; O'Connor, Blaze; Lamdin-Whymark, Hugo
(2011)
An Animate Landscape: Rock Art and the Prehistory of Kilmartin, Argyll, Scotland
| Description | The results of this grant helped the team to date the activities taking place at the rock art sites excavated. They indicated that most of the artefacts associated with the sites were associated with making the imagery carved on the rocks (the first time this has been conclusively proven anywhere in the world). They also helped us gain an understanding of the vegetation history, and environment of the region, while the sites were in use. |
| Exploitation Route | Yes. My findings have already been taken forward by the Heritage sector - they are incorporated in Historic Scotland signage at all the major prehistoric sites in the region. |
| Sectors | Culture Heritage Museums and Collections |