Interrogating a new discovery of figurative early prehistoric rock art from the Lake District
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 2016-05-14

Phenomenological approaches to ‘landscape archaeology’ are well established in systems of embodiment and aesthetics linked into a moving present. Where prehistoric rock art is encountered, phenomenological experiences occur within worlds that can only be measured and tested by individuals, all of whom will have different interpretations of the art. Notably reluctant to ascribe meaning to rock art images due in large part to a succession of
interpretative challenges, most UK and Irish archaeologists have taken to avoiding this subject, or ascribing to it basic levels of informative value. As the majority of UK and Irish rock art comprises geometric or abstract designs, this is not surprising. However, figurative motifs occur in mainland European rock art where mobile prehistoric populations are inferred; for example, in Norway, (Alta, Vingen), in Sweden, (Nämforsen), or in Galicia,
(Campo Lameiro, Laxe das Ferraduras). These, and their associated environmental contexts, have enabled the construction of interpretative propositions based on the meaning of the
art to the societies that made it; such as sacred localities, landmarks, boundaries, and the nature of the figurative motifs employed. Acknowledging that the construction of meaning from rock art is a diverse active and reenactive process, a new figurative early prehistoric rock art discovery found as a façadeelement
of a prehistoric cairn in the Lake District in April 2015 is presented and interpreted within its monumental montane context.

Steve DICKINSON