Summary

Rock art panel on a sandstone outcrop, of Neolithic/early Bronze Age date (approximately 3800 BC to 1500 BC).

Source: Historic England

Details

Principal elements: prehistoric rock art panel, of Neolithic/early Bronze Age date (approximately 3800 BC to 1500 BC).

Description: the level sandstone outcrop is oriented north west to south east and is situated at 140m OD. There are four separate motifs present: the first is a cup mark surrounded by five penannular rings with a duct. The outer rings are formed by a number of straight lines that make up the rings. Below this motif on the downward slope there is a small cup mark surrounded by a single ring with a duct. The third motif almost identical to the first, has a single cup mark surrounded by five penannulars similarly comprising angular grooves to form the rings, with a duct that extends to the rock edge. Below this is a single cup mark with a pear-shaped ring and a long groove running to the rock edge.

Extent of scheduling: a 5m diameter circle defined around a central point.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

The prehistoric rock art on Weetwood Moor 1 km south west of Clavering is scheduled for the following principal reasons:
* Survival: despite their susceptibility to natural weathering, the motifs are reasonably well preserved;
* Documentation: ritual and religious sites of Prehistoric Britain including rock art are relatively scarce and lack contemporary documentation, hence the value of the archaeological remains is enhanced as they provide our only evidence of the belief system and society which produced them;
* Diversity: among the motifs represented are a particularly striking pair, each comprising a cup surrounded by five pennanulars with a duct;
* Potential: these survivals will contribute to our knowledge of prehistoric society through study of the individual motifs and through an increased understanding of the circumstances in which rock art was created and the sites used;
* Group value: taken as a group with other rock art in the vicinity, they will enhance both our understanding of the inter-relationships between individual panels, and their relationship to the wider landscape. The panels lie in the vicinity of nearby scheduled prehistoric rock art at Weetwood and Fowberry.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Beckensall, S, Northumberland's Prehistoric Rock Carvings: A Mystery Explained , (1983), 109-121
Beckensall, S, Prehistoric Rock Motifs of Northumberland Volume 1, (1991), 37-42
Mazel, et al (eds), Art as Metaphor: The Prehistoric Rock-Art of Britain, (2007)
Websites
, accessed from http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/era/section/panel/overview.jsf?eraId=126

Source: Historic England