Not All Monuments Are Megalithic

Examining the Cup and Ring Carved Stones of Northern Britain and the Usefulness of the Term “Portable Art”

Bibliographic Data

ID12911459
AuthorsErin Watson (0000-0002-2096-7732, Institute of Archaeology, corresponding author)
Year2011
Volume4
Issue3
Pages337-353
Publication date2011-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueTime and Mind (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1751-696X • E-ISSN: 1751-6978
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.2752/175169711x13046099195636
OpenAlexW1968335220
LanguageEN
References cited16

Small, non-earthfasted rocks decorated with carvings are found concentrated in northern Britain and are often referred to as portable art. This is primarily due to their relatively small size compared to stone slabs and menhirs used to construct other monuments, as well as evidence that they have been quarried or gathered from the landscape or perhaps are reused pieces of art from preexisting sites. In general, they bear a distinctive form of art described as cup and ring art. These carved stones have been dated to the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age, and are often found associated with burial cairns. The author has questioned whether these stones were intended to be portable based on their archaeological context, and has therefore questioned the use of the term “portable” when these stones might have been intended to be building elements of a more immobile monument, built with cobbles instead of megalithic components. She has therefore examined the use of the word portable, and compiled a database of decorated “portable” stones and their available documentation from across northern England to examine the most common designs, most common landscape locations, and the frequency of designs in certain archaeological contexts to examine the degrees of portability that these stones exhibit

Archaeology · Bronze Age · Context (archaeology · Megalith · Prehistory · Rock art · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · History · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology

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