graham said:
Simon
We have probable apopotraic marks in another couple of caves, as well. These are not yet published, but we intend so doing as soon as recording is complete.
If you have any other examples we (Linda, Chris B. & myself) would be grateful to hear about them.
Graham,
Firstly I quite a bit of data for apotropaic symbols specifically from buildings and from the Early to Late Medieval period but an also interested in all sorts of graffiti (being marks on stone, wood, generally engraved rather than painted). I am also interested in rock art and cave paintings but not an expert on Prehistory. And not just apotropaic or ritual protection marks but ALL types of marks, there origins and potential cognitive significance.
This is basically because there is not a great volume of study of this type of folk magic and it is not possible to be categoric, although interest has increased over the last 10-15 years and there is some pretty well informed opinion available.
As to other examples of this type of apotropaic marking, examples do occur but are not widely recorded or documented and I suspect in cave situations very little is available. The web site linked above does have quite a bit of general info and pointers to available sources. I only heard myself about the Goatchurch Cavern marks from my friend who rune that site recently. He has wide experience in this field and did not know of any other examples in caves.
But Creswell Grag just shows that until people start to take notice then things go unnoticed. There was a telling post about these very first examples of rock art (they are not painted but engraved, as are over 90% of all such examples) which touches on the subject of this thread:
The artwork was not invisible - no one had noticed it. No cave art had been discovered in Britain before, so it seems that no one had bothered to look.
Having said that, someone must have seen it, as one animal has had a beard added to it in recent times, with other nearby graffiti saying "P.M. 1940".
The article describes the cave art as "paintings". They are not paintings, they are engravings.
I took the opportunity to go and have a look and am still in wonderment as to what I have seen. The rock art specialists were in the caves during my visit and found even more engravings while I was there!
source: http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=2146411534
I think this typifies just how people are compelled to record things in this way across 10's of thousands of years. Even in this very important site, a mark left in 1940 already has some historic significance. And the spray painted beard on the 13,000 year old ibex itself shows that casual visitors had most likely 'seen' this treasure before the experts arrived
So I am afraid I do not have many more cave specific examples as such but am happy to provide feedback on any examples and how these may relate to possible apotropaic or ritual or some other symbolism.
From quite a few years of experience crawling around churches and other stone buildings looking for the slightest of scratched marks, over time you begin to filter all the odd marks from all sorts of actions, both accidental, incidental or deliberate. I am sure that you are in a great position to begin to uncover not just potential headline grabbing finds such as at Creswell Crag but equally important, records of past habitation and use. And the more such marks are recorded and are made available to others then the more we will learn and understand them.
There is one 'cave' which has loads of medieval period carving and incised marks of all sorts, a lot religious, possibly pagan. It is not a cave in the classic sense ( probably man made, possibly Brito-Roman, probably later, but is called such and will give you some idea of just how diverse and intriguing graffiti can be. It's name is Royston Cave in Royston Hertfordshire, 40km N of London at the crossing of two Roman roads: the Icknield Way and Ermine Street. There is some decent info and images on this web site:
Royston Cave: creating a medieval magical centre
From the title you can tell it attracts lots of speculation as to it's origins!
There is some more detailed info on the Show cave web site here:
Royston Cave
To understand better the marks found it is important to consider the context and all the possible purposes or reasons why the marks were made (habitation, religious/ shamanistic, industry, exploratitive, casual etc) Also any archaeological evidence which might help date any such finds. Also I find that, whilst being circumspect, local folklore and legends or even toponomy of the location and specific cave names can sometimes offer leads.
Dating is always going to be tough especially where you have no backstop for dating from a cave wall, unless you can use sophisticated techniques to analyse them such as uranium series dating! But shape, method of incising or marking and style can give some idea.
With mining activity you will get evidence of marks from working and also possibly signs directly related to the activity. This can date back right to the Neolithic! A good example would be Grimes Graves in Norfolk where evidence of ritualistic activity related to the mining of flint (invocations made for a good seam of decent flint or plain good safety! for example), including graffiti and other items.
The shaft known as Pit 2 was also excavated by Peake in the same campaign in 1914-15 and reopened by the British Museum in 1975. Again the shaft was 9m deep, and as in Pit 1, a number of hearths were found in the fill of the shaft. Many layers of this backfill produced animal bones, indicating feasting or offerings placed in the mineshaft. Midway down, the jumbled remains of a female skeleton was found, but it is unclear whether this was a post-Neolithic burial near the shaft disturbed at the time of excavation, or a casual Neolithic interment thrown into the shaft.
A hearth was discovered at the base of the shaft, while a chalk and sand platform was found abutting the north-east wall. On the shaft wall near the platform, a group of vertical incised lines was found which would have been lit by the sun's rays at midday. These were interpreted as a 'sundial'. A second graffito - a lattice design - was found on another part of the shaft wall, and this was thought to be a group of 'tally marks' scratched by the miners as they counted flint nodules. Ten galleries radiated out from the base of this shaft. Later Neolithic Grooved Ware pottery was found in various galleries and at the base of the shaft, and several galleries produced bat remains.
source: http://www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba72/feat2.shtml
This shows two practical explanations for such graffiti and also other associated ritual activity. In fact I have found tally marks on all sorts of buildings, from churches to barns and they may possibly be the earliest forms of human 'writing' or at least cognitive notation.
Finally, as I touched on above, if you consider that over 90% of all rock art/ cave art is engraved, then consideration should be given to careful checking before any well intentioned cleaning of modern graffiti etc so that it may not be lost. There are methods of surveying which can help 'see' the marks (cross lighting the rock face often helps define incised marks with some shadow relief and for recording them (light marking could be erased easily if the rock is of a soft nature etc)
Whether it is parietal art or other forms of graffiti, there must be so much more out there to discover and to understand. With the former, there is a lot of interest and good reference material. For the later I suspect it is only just beginning.
Please feel free to PM me and I would be happy to help with my thoughts etc. And I will keep an eye out for further examples as I intend to follow up such subterranean locations. I would be very interested to hear more about your work.
Cheers
Simon