New Light on Neolithic Rock Carving The petroglyphs at Greenland (Auchentorlie), Dunbartonshire

Summary Because of a quarrying threat the carved rock surfaces at Greenland were recorded afresh in 1984 but the site fortunately still exists. On the two carved outcrops are many cup-marks (some with tails) and a variety of cups-with-rings, mostly with short tails. The site is the first which can b...

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Published in:Glasgow Archaeological Journal
Main Authors: MacKie, E W, Davis, A
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Edinburgh University Press 1988
Subjects:
Dun
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/gas.1988.15.15.125
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spelling credinunivpr:10.3366/gas.1988.15.15.125 2023-11-12T04:17:45+01:00 New Light on Neolithic Rock Carving The petroglyphs at Greenland (Auchentorlie), Dunbartonshire MacKie, E W Davis, A 1988 http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/gas.1988.15.15.125 en eng Edinburgh University Press https://www.euppublishing.com/customer-services/librarians/text-and-data-mining-tdm Glasgow Archaeological Journal volume 15, issue 1, page 125-155 ISSN 0305-8980 2053-7824 journal-article 1988 credinunivpr https://doi.org/10.3366/gas.1988.15.15.125 2023-10-26T13:38:39Z Summary Because of a quarrying threat the carved rock surfaces at Greenland were recorded afresh in 1984 but the site fortunately still exists. On the two carved outcrops are many cup-marks (some with tails) and a variety of cups-with-rings, mostly with short tails. The site is the first which can be shown to have been carved in two distinct phases, far apart in time, and the first at which the carving (as opposed to the re-use) of some of the symbols can be approximately dated. The later petroglyphs were evidently done after the main outcrop was quarried, and the construction nearby of a timber-framed dun in the late Bronze Age provides an explanation for this damage. Other archaeological evidence supports this view which has important implications. (EWM) The Greenland carvings have been used to test the hypothesis that many cup-and-ring carvings were initially laid out using a very elementary 'equal width' geometry using a simple trammel and, further, that the diameters of such rings were usually measured in multiples of a unit of measurement approximately equal to the 'megalithic inch' of 0.816ins proposed by Alexander Thorn. Most of the rings from the Greenland site have shapes consistent with the geometrical hypothesis, and evidence for the proposed unit of measurement is obtained which is statistically significant at the 2%level. (AD) Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Edinburgh University Press (via Crossref) Dun ENVELOPE(11.266,11.266,64.658,64.658) Greenland Glasgow Archaeological Journal 15 1 125 155
institution Open Polar
collection Edinburgh University Press (via Crossref)
op_collection_id credinunivpr
language English
description Summary Because of a quarrying threat the carved rock surfaces at Greenland were recorded afresh in 1984 but the site fortunately still exists. On the two carved outcrops are many cup-marks (some with tails) and a variety of cups-with-rings, mostly with short tails. The site is the first which can be shown to have been carved in two distinct phases, far apart in time, and the first at which the carving (as opposed to the re-use) of some of the symbols can be approximately dated. The later petroglyphs were evidently done after the main outcrop was quarried, and the construction nearby of a timber-framed dun in the late Bronze Age provides an explanation for this damage. Other archaeological evidence supports this view which has important implications. (EWM) The Greenland carvings have been used to test the hypothesis that many cup-and-ring carvings were initially laid out using a very elementary 'equal width' geometry using a simple trammel and, further, that the diameters of such rings were usually measured in multiples of a unit of measurement approximately equal to the 'megalithic inch' of 0.816ins proposed by Alexander Thorn. Most of the rings from the Greenland site have shapes consistent with the geometrical hypothesis, and evidence for the proposed unit of measurement is obtained which is statistically significant at the 2%level. (AD)
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author MacKie, E W
Davis, A
spellingShingle MacKie, E W
Davis, A
New Light on Neolithic Rock Carving The petroglyphs at Greenland (Auchentorlie), Dunbartonshire
author_facet MacKie, E W
Davis, A
author_sort MacKie, E W
title New Light on Neolithic Rock Carving The petroglyphs at Greenland (Auchentorlie), Dunbartonshire
title_short New Light on Neolithic Rock Carving The petroglyphs at Greenland (Auchentorlie), Dunbartonshire
title_full New Light on Neolithic Rock Carving The petroglyphs at Greenland (Auchentorlie), Dunbartonshire
title_fullStr New Light on Neolithic Rock Carving The petroglyphs at Greenland (Auchentorlie), Dunbartonshire
title_full_unstemmed New Light on Neolithic Rock Carving The petroglyphs at Greenland (Auchentorlie), Dunbartonshire
title_sort new light on neolithic rock carving the petroglyphs at greenland (auchentorlie), dunbartonshire
publisher Edinburgh University Press
publishDate 1988
url http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/gas.1988.15.15.125
long_lat ENVELOPE(11.266,11.266,64.658,64.658)
geographic Dun
Greenland
geographic_facet Dun
Greenland
genre Greenland
genre_facet Greenland
op_source Glasgow Archaeological Journal
volume 15, issue 1, page 125-155
ISSN 0305-8980 2053-7824
op_rights https://www.euppublishing.com/customer-services/librarians/text-and-data-mining-tdm
op_doi https://doi.org/10.3366/gas.1988.15.15.125
container_title Glasgow Archaeological Journal
container_volume 15
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