The Past, Present and Future of Rock Art Research in Scotland

Abstract

s Rock Art Project) is an information professional with experience of working in digital archives. He graduated from Glasgow University's Information Management and Preservation (Digital) postgraduate degree in 2018. He then worked as a Special Collections Assistant at the National Library of Scotland, before joining Historic Environment Scotland in 2019. Frederick led the digitisation element of Historic Environment Scotland's Archives Digital Projects, which generated over 500,000 newly digitised records. Tertia BarnettTertia Barnett (Principal Investigator, Scotland's Rock Art Project) is an Honorary Fellow in Archaeology at Edinburgh University. Since completing her PhD she has been researching and recording rock art in Britain and North Africa, with a specialism in post-Palaeolithic carvings. She has led on several community co-production projects in Britain, including Scotland's Rock Art Project and The Northumberland and Durham Rock Art Project, and is a keen advocate of community engagement in rock art.

Long Distance Connections Within Britain and Ireland: the Evidence of Insular Rock Art

“…There was a preference for horizontal surfaces that faced the sky and a few decorated outcrops were directed towards the rising or setting sun. In most regions there were views towards the solar arc rather than the north (Barnett et al 2022a; 2022b). The importance of the sun is most obvious at Copt Howe and Ballochmyle where long distance visibility is limited by a vertical surface and the panels themselves are orientated on the midsummer and midwinter sunsets respectively (Bradley 2022a).…”

“…Similarly, the rock art at Achnabreck on the west coast of Scotland was ideally located for watching the passage of the winter sun over the island of Arran 45 km away (Watson 2022). At a more general level, sites were selected that faced south-east or north-west: the directions of the rising or setting sun at the turning points of the year (Barnett et al 2022a; 2022b). Those directions seem to have influenced the placing of rock art above Loch Tay on Ben Lawers, and in Kilmartin Glen (Bradley et al 2013; Watson 2022).…”

On the Periphery of the Inka Empire: Spatial Arrangement at the Pre-Hispanic Rock-art Site of Villavil 2 (Catamarca, Argentina)

“…Visibility and mobility analyses have been particularly successful, as long as these are the two basic forms of human interaction with the landscape (Llobera 2012) and engagement with rock art (Fairén-Jiménez 2007). The current availability of digital data produced with very high accuracy and resolution is eventually allowing a digital approach to human experience and perception (Barnett et al 2022), overcoming a most critical limitation (Llobera 2012). However, digital approaches at such detailed, human-centred scales are still uncommon in general, and in South America in particular.…”

Scratching the surface of Scotland's prehistoric rock art: A multiscalar methodology for holistic analysis of context and design

“…They are not evenly distributed, with large concentrations in south-western regions, particularly Kilmartin in Argyll and Bute, around Kirkcudbright in Dumfries and Galloway, and in parts of central Scotland (Perth and Kinross, and Stirling) (Figs. 2a and b) (Barnett et al 2022a). The imagery is characterised by cupmarks (small circular hollows carved into the rock), often surrounded by single or multiple concentric rings, and frequently associated with linear grooves (Fig.…”

“…Further details about the work and outcomes of ScRAP can be found in Barnett et al (2022a and b) and Valdez-Tullett et al (in prep.). An overview of the project (Barnett et al 2021) can be downloaded from: https://www.historicenvironment.scot/archives-and-research/publications/publication/? publicationid=a6d48c09-3323-4fba-b1ab-ae6200a1c8ab.…”