Safeguarding Open-Air Rock Art
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 2015-11-03

Myra Giesen1, P. A. Warke2, P. Lewis2, A. D. Mazel2, D. W. Graham2
1NEWCASTLE UNIVERISTY, 2
The United Kingdom and Ireland are endowed with a large number of Neolithic and Bronze Age open-air rock art panels. However, evidence suggest that rates of panel deterioration may be increasing, potentially placing these iconic monuments under growing risk. Climate modelling predicts warming temperatures, more seasonally variable precipitation, and increased wind speeds in Northern England; factors that all tend to accelerate stone deterioration due to increased physiochemical weathering. By investigating a range of environmental factors that influence the present and future condition of such panels, we have developed a better understanding of the environmental pressures that most impact deterioration. In this paper, we will present new findings from work conducted at 18 important rock art sites in England, Scotland, and the Republic of Ireland.
In total, 77 rock art panels in Northumberland, Dumfries and Galloway, and Donegal were evaluated, where we gathered close to 200 soil samples, recorded over 900 in situ portable X-ray Fluorescence readings on stone surface mineralogy, and gathered condition and risk data per panel. These data were then statistically compared to identify key threats to panel preservation, which might be influenced by warmer, wetter climatic conditions. Recommended management interventions to safeguard panels will be provided based on these data to help ensure panel longevity into the future.