Wallridge Moor, Belsay, Northumberland: post-excavation analysis

The initial aerial surveys, consisting of high-resolution aerial photogrammetry, LiDAR and multi-spectral photogrammetry covered approximately 24ha of arable land surrounding the decorated rock panel. A second phase of aerial survey concentrated on high-resolution 2D and 3D photogrammetry of the uncovered rock panel following excavation. Fieldwalking was undertaken across part of the field south-east of the rock outcrop. The field was systematically walked in lines, spaced 4m apart, with each walker scanning 2m to either side, thus ensuring 100% coverage. Canes were placed along the lines to enable each walker to maintain the correct spacing and a straight line. Trench 1 was excavated to expose the known limits of the decorated rock outcrop, explore the extent of the rock outcrop, and investigate the immediate area around it. Trenches 2 and 3, to the south and east of the decorated outcrop respectively, were excavated to explore the extent of the bedrock and identify any further rock art. Trench 4, to the north-east of the decorated outcrop, and trench 5, to the north- west, were excavated to establish the margins of the 19th century quarry and to identify any further rock art. All trenches were excavated by hand under close archaeological supervision. Fractured bedrock was recorded in trenches 2-5 but no further traces of rock art were found in these trenches. The excavations uncovered three additional panels of art on the same outcrop as the panel first discovered in 2015 that led to these works. The panels at Wallridge fit with the general trends of known rock art sites in Northumberland, sharing similar motifs and designs, though the location is further south than all other comparably complex panels that cluster around Wooler and in Coquetdale. From the UAV survey, various features relating to modern agricultural activity can be observed in the MS and photogrammetric survey of the arable field, including current and former ploughing and drainage. Occasional features may be observed in some of the MS imagery which could possibly reflect archaeological features, although they are not diagnostically indicative of prehistoric settlement. The excavations results indicate the presence of human activity on the site from the Mesolithic, likely related to local tree clearance. The recovery of flints and radiocarbon dates suggest that there was also activity in the Neolithic. Most of the radiocarbon dates were Bronze/Iron Age. Intermittent human activity therefore took place at Wallridge over thousands of years. The most convincing evidence for the date of the rock art production at Wallridge is the Bronze Age date of 980-800 cal BC, which is directly associated with tiny quartz fragments, a hammerstone and possible hammerstone that may all be associated with the production of the rock art. The palaeoenvironmental evidence supports the radiocarbon results in suggesting there were several phases of activity. The objective of the project was to establish the amount of rock art present at the site, and to record all of it in great detail. It also aimed to provide, as far as possible, information relating to the chronology of the rock art, and about the kind of activity that took place at and around the site. These works have achieved these aims, adding to a small but growing body of excavation at rock art sites, and demonstrating the potential value of such work.