Work begins at Hawksley Hill

Work is now underway at Hawksley Hill; our second community archaeology project being run under the aegis of the Archaeological and Architectural Society of Durham and Northumberland.

 

In 2000, local archaeologist, Paul Brown, identified two ‘panels’ of Rock Art at the western edge of Hawkesley Hill, a few miles north-west of Barnard Castle . The motifs consist variously of cups, rings, grooves, isolated peck marks, and other more heavily eroded features, some of which may be of natural origin. A number of earth-fast boulders were also found in the nearby vicinity.

 

Initial fieldwork, carried out on Monday 19th and Tuesday 20th October, has located and cleaned the original panels discovered by Paul. This area now awaits full recording. A small number of test pits were also excavated within the vicinity of the panels, as part of assessment work, this was aimed at evaluating the potential existence and nature of any related archaeology. The test pits have revealed what might be a ring (or semi-circle) of stone and black soil around the panels. This could be just soil collecting in the hollow, although there is every indication that they might be archaeology.

Excavation around rock art sites has been fairly limited until quite recently, but investigations in Scandinavia, Ireland, Scotland and England area now beginning to challenge our previous perceptions of how these sites was used.  There is now considerable evidence of activity associated with carved rocks sites, including pavements of mud and cobbles, often associated with large quantities of quartz. Other identified features include pits containing burnt animal bone and other charred remains.  Stone tools, quartz, and waste material has also been found jammed into surrounding natural rock fissures. While it is unclear if this material dates to the same period as the carving of the stones, it does suggest that rock art was the focus of related activities, perhaps including fire, feasting and offerings. For more information on Rock Art visit  the excellent 'England's Rock Art' website at http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/era/

The Hawksley Hill project will entail the detailed recording of the two known panels, using the latest photogrammetric techniques, as well an open area excavation focusing on the principal panels. The aim of the latter is to expose any related archaeological deposits which might elucidate how the rock art was produced and any activity associated with their use.

Work began on Friday 23rd October with the laborious and back-breaking task of de-turfing which was carried out with surprising speed by our excellent volunteers - well done guys, de-turfing is a job everyone hates! Over the next few days the plan is to trowel back the surface and see what (if anything) is revealed.

The Hawksley Hill project will be running until Tuesday the 3rd of November if you are interested in joining. Contact Penny at pm@naa.gb.com for further details