Maarten van Hoek The Geography of Cup-and-Ring ... - StoneWatch

notably remark that the surface of that depression had time to erode
before the new cup-and-ring figure was added. If this is true, it is
therefore possible that the depression was created by natural forces
long before people started to engrave the rock. Indeed, the outcrop is
fractured in such a way that especially the west edge (B in Fig. 141) is
prone to, for instance, glacial plucking, as well as for quarrying.
Particularly the part with a fine cup-and-three-rings still looks very
attractive for removal. Just west of this part, another slab is likely to
have been removed either by natural forces or by quarrying.
But even if one assumes that the rock was quarried in prehistoric
times, it then is not at all certain that the removed slab or indeed the
whole rock was already decorated. It is also not certain that the
quarried part indeed was used as a cist slab. Although an exactly
matching piece has not been found locally, there have been recorded a
relatively large number of loose decorated stones in the area, many
incorporated into (possible) burial structures of the Neolithic and
Bronze Age. Most portables (from the alleged burials and as stray
finds on the moor) are however too small, irregular and worn to have
been quarried from outcrop rock.
But some loose stones are suitable candidates to have been possibly
quarried from the North Plantation outcrop. In 1934 a long decorated
stone with flat sides was recorded in the
rampart of the enclosure which has been
built on to the North Plantation outcrop
(Beckensall 1983: 127). Unfortunately it
has not been seen since, but it would be
worthwhile to retrace it and find out
whether it could have been taken from the
west edge of the outcrop. Further
candidates are the loose decorated stones
from Deershed, the Weetwood Moor cairn,
Lilburn Clavering, and Wooler (Beckensall
1983).
Yet it must be emphasised here that
especially petroglyphs in a sheltered
position tend to be excellently preserved
by earth and turf. This is also
demonstrated at Horton Moor 2 on the
FIG. 142: HORTON.
east slopes of Doddington Hill. This
outcrop has also an upper surface with much eroded carvings and, again
on lower level, a superb design, still freshly pocked (Fig. 142). This
complex motif appears to be deliberately executed on lower level,
strikingly near a low crest. Although the shallow depression indeed
resembles a possible cist quarry, it is most likely that the lower part
was formed naturally.
M. van HOEK: 176
GEOGRAPHY