Steve Gray
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Re: Rock Art Mystery
Oct 09, 2003, 18:26
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Pity about that last post of yours Hob, I was just about to launch in with a merry jest about your antlers.
Anyhow, I wouldn't go wasting you antlers on anything hard. When hard stones were sculpted by the ancients it was with other hard stones. The Egyptians crafted granite by striking it with dolerite balls and then polished it with stone slips and water. I assume these techniques would be well known to many Stone Age cultures.
Incidentally, Mark Lehner (Egyptologist) tried to use a dolerite ball to chip away at some granite and gave himself a nasty ache in his wrist, silly man. I sent him an email telling him how to do it, but he didn't reply. :o( You have to let go of the ball a few inches from the surface so that it bounces back and then you catch it. It takes a bit of practice, but it don't arf save your wrists. Also, a bounce produces up to twice the force of a non-bouncing impact. I believe that the balls would have started out as cobbles and become approximately round through repeated use.
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FourWinds
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Jimmy Somerville says ...
Oct 09, 2003, 19:42
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"When hard stones were sculpted by the ancients it was with other hard stones."
... it ain't necessarily so :-)
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AtomicMutton
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Re: Rock Art Mystery
Oct 09, 2003, 19:44
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Wow !
Is that how it's done ?
Nobody knows I've got this weird carved rock in town yet. That wasn't carved with dolerite balls or an antler pick. Little copper and flint tools more like ...
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AtomicMutton
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Also ...
Oct 09, 2003, 19:48
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http://www.eng-h.gov.uk/mpp/mcd/cupring.htm
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FourWinds
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Re: Rock Art Mystery
Oct 09, 2003, 19:53
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I've just recieved more comprehensive photos than the ones on any of the news articles ... WOW!
I can see why they're all confused about them.
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Hob
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Re: Rock Art Mystery
Oct 09, 2003, 21:20
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Much Hmmmmm...ing. Excellent stuff.
I could see the polishing, but how would you get the detail in cup n rings without something fairly pick-like? I'm assuming flint would shatter and that copper would blunt too quickly. Even when using steel on sandstone, I find I have to re-grind the chisel edge after a few hours of picking.
The one pic Iv'e seen of an unweathered cup and ring (from an annoyingly AWOL Beckensall book) looked very different from the ones you see out on the hills, much tighter and more like the sort of thing I would expect from a relatively sharp implement.
It's been bugging me for years.
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Hob
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Re: Rock Art Mystery
Oct 09, 2003, 21:23
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Was that from the phone number they gave?
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pebblesfromheaven
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geology
Oct 09, 2003, 21:33
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Hob asked "...What kind of stone are the classic Northumberland cupnrings on?"
The ones I've seen up here are deffo sandstone, a mostly grey variety with some iron-red patches. The reason the carvings have survived is cos they have been covered by vegetation over for so long. You only have to see the [recently uncovered] ones at Chatton to realise they aint gonna last long open to the elements.
Everyone: Come and see them while you can :-(
.o0O0o.
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pebblesfromheaven
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Re: Rock Art Mystery
Oct 09, 2003, 21:34
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f*ck me sideways!
I am away for two days and look what happens.... !!
.o0O0o.
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pebblesfromheaven
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Re: Rock Art Mystery
Oct 09, 2003, 21:34
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Hi FW
any chance of sending them to me please?
Pretty please?
xxxxxxxxxxxx
.o0O0o.
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