Signalling and Performance: Ancient Rock Art in Britain and Ireland

Signalling and Performance: Ancient Rock Art in Britain and Ireland presents a state of the art survey of the ancient rock art of Britain and Ireland, bringing together new discoveries and new interpretations. Ancient rock art offers unique insights into the mindsets of its makers and the landscapes in which they lived. The making of rock art was not just an aesthetic practice, but an activity informed by deep social and cultural meanings held by its makers - meanings that they were compelled to express on rocks in Britain and Ireland, through mostly abstract images, for thousands of years. For a long time, ancient rock art remained a topic on the fringes of Archaeology. Since the 1960s, however, there has been sustained recording and research into ancient rock art. Increased publicity has evoked growing interest in British and Irish rock art, with professional and amateur archaeologists and the public, with the latter being responsible for many discoveries. In 2007, Aron Mazel, George Nash and Clive Waddington published the first edited volume focusing on ancient British rock art, entitled Art as Metaphor. Since then, there have been a number of publications covering this topic. Building on the increased interest in rock art, this lavishly illustrated volume constructed of thirteen thought-provoking chapters and an Introduction will do much to further enhance of understanding of this fascinating and meaningful resource. It will further establish ancient British and Irish rock art as a significant archaeological assemblage worthy of attention and additional study.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Recording and Interpreting the Ancient Rock Art of Britain and Ireland – Aron Mazel and George Nash ; The Past, Present and Future of Rock Art Research in Scotland – Tertia Barnett, Joana Valdez-Tullett, Maya Hoole, Stuart Jeffrey, Guillaume Robin, Linda Marie Bjerketvedt and Frederick Alexander ; Marking the Earth: History of Research and the Distribution of Open-Air Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Panels and Motifs at Lordenshaw in Central Northumberland, United Kingdom – Aron Mazel ; East of Eden: Monumental Rock Art in Cumbria, North-West of England – Kate E. Sharpe ; The Early Bronze Age Landscape of Burley Moor, West Yorkshire – Keith Boughey ; The Carver and the Rock: The Physicality of Carving – Vivien Deacon ; A Wirral Enigma: Understanding the Origins of the Willaston Stones – Ron Cowell, George Nash and Elizabeth Stewart ; A Reappraisal of the Cronk yn How Stone, Isle of Man – George Nash ; Rewriting Landscapes: Exploring the Context, Regionality and Extended Chronologies of Irish Rock Art – Rebecca Aroon Enlander ; Conserving Rock Art in South-West Ireland – Clare Busher O’Sullivan ; A Single Panel Case Study in Kerry – Deconstructing a Rock Art Palimpsest – Aoibheann Lambe ; Linear Art in the European Neolithic – Anne Teather ; The Discovery of Late Upper Palaeolithic Rock Art at Cathole Cave on the Gower Peninsula, South Wales – George Nash ; Prehistoric Rock Art in Glamorgan and Gwent – Edith Evans

About the Author :
Aron Mazel is a Reader in Heritage Studies at Newcastle University (United Kingdom) and a Research Associate at the School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa). George Nash is an Associate Professor at the Centro de Geociências da Universidade de Coimbra and Instituto Politécnico de Tomar in Portugal.

Review :
'This study of prehistoric rock art does indeed provide an 'insight into the mindset of its makers', investigating how prehistoric people interacted with these motifs and what they meant to them culturally and socially. It is an important contribution to the exploration of this subject in Britain and Ireland, as well as being an enjoyable and academic read that will engage a range of archaeologically minded audiences.' – Ceri Pennington (2023): Current Archaeology Issue 399