Ancient British Rock Art: A Guide to Indigenous Stone Carvings (Wooden Books U.K. Gift Book)

Chris Mansell is an artist who makes the point in his introduction that although he has a very real interest in the subject he does not claim to be an "archaeological historian". He does, however, have an excellent grasp of the subject, has read the main publications on the subject and visited a large number of sites.Chris Mansell's little book (56 pages, 15.5cm tall and 12.5cm wide) is beautifully made and presented by Wooden Books and is full of lovely illustrations, both the author's own and those sourced from elsewhere. It is, however, difficult to work out its target audience. I bought it when I first started revisiting an interest in the prehistoric rock carvings which are mainly found in northern England and Scotland - cup and ring marks, spirals and other patterns and designs which form a very distinct and recognizable class of "art".Following the Contents page there are two pages showing many of the shapes commonly found. The rest of the book is composed of three main themes. The first chapters are introductory chapters, looking at rock art, discussing its distribution and looking at past and present research. Next the author discusses in more detail the types of engravings found, giving examples of specific shapes and designs. He puts forward possible interpretations where possible, and provides examples of individual sites which illustrate each chapter. Finally there is a list of interesting sites and locations (with grid references) and recommendation of two websites. Most of his "chapters" are about two sides in length.The recommended further reading is located opposite the Contents page.The illustrations are all greyscale, they are lovely and there are lots of them. Not all of them are individually credited/referenced, which is a bit frustrating. There is a list of sources on the page opposite the Contents, but these do not refer to individual images.Most of the main topics discussed in British rock art studies are touched on in this small book. The writing is clear and ideas are explored without fuss.This would make a good introduction for those who really know nothing at all about British rock engravings. For those who have rather more knowledge the lovely illustrations may well have an appeal in their own right.

Present

Well worth a read.

interesting cool looking book a good introduction to rock art loved the drawings and laid paper they are printed on

Neat little reference handbook to take out on walks where Rock Art is likely to occur.

Adorable little book, packaged very nicely. It hasn't a great deal of information but enough to quench an interest with beautiful illustrations.

Disappointing. Illustrations are rather poor sketches rather than photographs.

great thanks