Yorkshire Rock Art
June 2003


Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding.
Cup-and-ring-marked rocks of the valleys of the Aire, Wharfe, Washburn and Nidd.

By Keith Boughey and Edward Vickerman. 


“There is good archaeology and there is bad, and books like this one are very good indeed. The study of British rock art has come of age, and we must be very grateful to the authors for their part in making this happen.”

 – Prof. Richard Bradley, University of Reading.

Scattered carvings on natural rock surfaces are found on a number of moors in West Yorkshire. Circular hollows (“cups”) cut into the rock, are often encircled by one or more incised “rings”, or associated with grooves. Well-attested association of such “cup-and-ring” carvings with other dateable archaeological evidence from other areas, in particular burials, suggest that they probably date from the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age transition, i.e. circa 2500BC or even earlier. Familiar examples on Ilkley Moor in West Yorkshire, such as the “Hangingstones” and Panorama Stone, have fascinated local archaeologists for over a century, but similar carvings have a much wider distribution in the area.

In the 1970’s a group of enthusiastic local amateurs came together at evening classes in Ilkley to study Ilkley Moor. From these meetings grew the Ilkley Archaeology Group, some of whom took as their aim the accurate location, recording and description of all the cup-and-ring marked rocks on Rombalds Moor. In 1986, with the help of funding and editorial work by the West Yorkshire Archaeology Service base in Wakefield, the group published The Carved Rocks on Rombalds Moors, representing more than a decade of research into these enigmatic carvings. The book was very favourably received by both amateur and professional archaeologists, but is now long out of print.

It was long known that the carvings extended over a wider area. In the intervening years work on this area has been incorporated in the groups records, together with corrections and additions to the original publication. This second volume gives details of all the known sites in the larger area. The work of others in different areas has also added to the understanding of what these carvings might mean.

  The area now covered extends from Airedale, through the valleys of the Wharfe and its tributary the Washburn, to Nidderdale. As a result, the number of known sites since the original 1986 publication has more than doubled from 297 to 653, and others continue to come to light. The fruits of this latest research the authors now present as the natural follow up to the 1986 volume. It includes details of the sites together with photographs, illustrations, distribution maps and a detailed discussion of the place of cup-and-ring-marked rock art in the study of prehistory in general. It is hoped that this will not only contribute to studies in local prehistoric archaeology, but also add to the broader understanding of prehistoric rock art in the UK and NW Europe as a whole, and act as part of a foundation to a national programme for the proper recognition, management and conservation of these unique archaeological sites.

Yorkshire Archaeology 9, Hardback, 190pp, 49 figs, 193 plates.
Price £14.00 plus £4.50 postage and packing.

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