Rock carvings by Lordenshaw
The Lordenshaw rock carvings are south of Rothbury in Northumberland , England . There are over 100 outcrops with cup and ring markings , making Lordenshaw the largest concentration of rock art in Northumberland and perhaps the whole of the UK.
The sandstone mountains on which Lordenshaw lies lie northeast of the Simonside-Dove-Crags range of hills. The striking extension of the Simonside Hills consists of sandstone, with a thin, acidic soil layer. There are patches of bright orange soil churned up by rabbits and dark gray earth.
The area has archaeological sites from different periods. The evacuation of much of the land to "improve" grain cultivation and the quarrying must have destroyed some of the surface archeology. It is likely that much of the rock art was also lost. The oldest features are many large outcrops with cup-and-ring markings that belong to the early or late Neolithic period . The motifs vary from simple to more complex bowls with rings and grooves. There is a characteristic regional phenomenon of long grooves following the slope on the east side of the hill.
It is impossible to date petroglyphs , but three Early Bronze Age cairns were erected on marked rocks in this area . This shows that the rock carvings were important even before the Cairns were built. So they are either contemporary or older.
The Cairns and the Hillfort of Lordenshaw are nearby.
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Coordinates: 55 ° 17 '12.7 " N , 1 ° 55' 7.7" W.