would of course follow, as it has always been a custom
of wealthy and commercial people to erect grand places
of worship. And that they were wealthy in no ordinary
degree, the liberal gold coinage, and the beautiful gold
ornaments for personal adornment now in the British
Museum, prove. And the latter are clearly of Italian
make.

Avebury as much transcends the sublimity of Stone-
henge, as the Alps transcend that of the little churches
which decorate the elevations at their feet.



1800 15



SOME ROCK-CUTTINGS IN NORTHUMBER

LAND.



BY M1S8 ];U8SKLL



{Read 3 June 1896.)




HE figures of rock-cuttings here given
were intended at one time to illustrate
the paper to be found in the Journal for
April 20th, 1892, on the cup-and-ring
cutting as a charm against the evil
eye, and the probability that the groove
which generally' crosses the circles repre-
sents the javelin or spear piercing the eye. There was
some difficulty about getting them ready for engraving ;
and as they did not exemplify that characteristic of the
circles as well as some better-known cases, no illustra-
tions were given with that paper.

And I do not think these figures, from two flat rocks
on the Dod Law, near Wooler in Northumberland, have
been engraved before, though the locality is well known
as one where rock-cuttings occur. No one would
give them as good examples of circles, for of the three
tioures concerned, two are rather square than round ; the
third, however, being a fair example of a triple circle
without the central cup, but with a distinct groove.
There is at least one other figure on these Dod Law
rocks which is not intended for a circle. It may be in-
complete.

But, some time after taking the rubbings, it occurred
to me more forcibly than at the time, that the better-
formed of the two squares, that with the rounded corners,
is a very fairly correct plan of the hut-village which still
remains nearly intact on the Dod Law, and close to which
these rocks occur. The idea that the rock-cuttings were



ROCK-CUTTIXOS IN XORTIIU-MBERLAXD. 20/

of the nature of maps lias often been suggested. It had,
I think, occurred independently to Sir Daniel Wilson
regarding a rock with badly-fornaed circles, which he
engraves, in North America ; and the circles certainly
so far resemble the brochs and circular forts which are
not uncommon in Scotland.

It seems to me that this case of the circle accompany-
ing the rude oblong square, tig. 1, with a better repre-
sentation of the village and its ramparts by itself on a
neighbouring rock (fig. 2), disposes of this theory of the
cuttings in general more effectually than any mere want
of proof can do ; the object of the representation being,
I suppose, to protect the village from the evil eye by
what may be something of the nature of a votive model.
It is not only possible but probable that some of the
rock-cuttings in other places have a similar object ; but
this does not apply to the circles by themselves. Even
where there is no central cup, the rings, regarded as
ramparts, are out of all proportion to the space left for
the villaoe.

Although two papers have recently been published,
giving a number of new cases of rock cuttings, with
engravings of them, — one by Mr. Coles in TJte Proceed-
ings of the Scottish Antiijuaries for 1894-5, concerning
Galloway ; the other by Mr. Ilomilly Allen, on Yorkshire
cases, in The Belicjuarij and Illustrated Archwologist,
April 1896, it was neither of these which suggested to
me the desirableness of bringing these square figures into
notice just now. It was their resemblance to the plans
of forts or entrenched villages of different shapes, in the
south of Scotland more especially, which have been most
laboriously worked out in the last few years by Dr.
Christison ; and as regards Galloway and the south of
Ayshire, by Mr. Coles: who had, as so often happens,
begun the work nearly siuniltaneously, without at first
knowing of Dr. Christison's. They are very local, some
districts having large groups of these fortified villages,
while others have hardly any. In fact, when they were
inhabited, as now, certain localities suited the population
best ; but those which have remained, at least, are not
in the vallevs, but on the lower hills, where, besides the



208 SOME ROCK-CUTTINGS

defensive position, they have the advantage of a dry
foundation.

The water-supply in many cases must have been from
rain only ; hut in regarding this as a difficulty, people
forget that the same is the case at the present day over
great part of Australia. All this applies equally to the
forts of Islandshire, as the north-east of Northumberland
was called, though the limestone rock has a character of
its own.

The top of the Dod Law is a flat moor, but on the west
side it is as steep as it can be without being a precipice ;







■•— '^N^ ■•<-,


. _."~l-^' â– *"'" â– '*^^_ ,'










-Cr'-u-^"^ ^ ^'<









Vv"-V ..V • fl. ':/ ^ '■/ f: -/ ;. . .^;:;"^^r>^.






c






No. 1.

Dod Law, Northurabei'land.

Rubbing of Rock taken August, 1888.

and on the edge of this is the small fortified village.
The people say there are fourteen cups in the square
fio-ure on the rock, and there are certainly about that
number, though they have not all come out distinctly in
the rubbing ; and assuming that the cups, in this case
at least, stand for huts, that is about the number that
the fort would contain. There are the remains of eight
small dwellings still, some round and some square, but
those nearest the entrance are gone. There is a small
spring just at the entrance, on the left side, looking at
the rock-plan, and a fine well on the moor, at some little
distance. This must have been regularly sunk at some
time, probably for the use of the cottage on the moor.



I\ NORTEIUMBERLAXD.



20U



The rampart of the fort is of small loose stones whicli
had apparently been completely covered with turf; but
the Jubilee bonfire of 1887 having been lighted on the
outer side of the rampart, the heather and turf cauglit
fire ; and if it had not been perfectly still weather, the
whole moor would have been burnt. As it was, the fire
only smouldered for a week, and laid partly bare the



I â– â– â– â–  - -' -^



*=1- V.



!/,



'.! *



■'■■■-■« r:- V;;v - ^ >y -r: "■ s; V • /I V*



V 41' -.-






^ •^^ d ■ .



â– >. i-



\ '



No. 2.

Doil Law, NorthuniberlaiKl.

Rubbing ot" Rock taken August, 188S.

structure of the mound. The fiat rock surfaces are flush
with the level of the ground in the neighbourhood of the
fort, and their being frequently covered with turf partly
accounts for the cuttings being still so numerous and
distinct. However, they are well cared for by those in
charge of the hill, both for landlord and tenant.

It should be mentioned that the rubbinir of the circles



210 SOME ROCK- CUTTINGS

engraved in fig. 1 gives at first sight the idea of its being
meant for a spiral ; but this is owing to the rubbing
having accidentally been carried out to the edge of the
rock in one place. The groove, though sufficiently dis-
tinct, is in this case merely three small breaks in a line
with each other in the circles. The engravings are from
very careful and accurate drawings made from photo-
graphs of my own rubbings, in the works of Messrs.
Johnston, of Edinburgh. The stick introduced is a yard-
measure.

One of Mr. Coles' engravings represents two large sets
of circles, of which one overlaps the other. They are not
interlaced, but represented as if they were solid discs.
And this reminded me of another suggestion which had
occurred to me about the larger and more complicated of
these figures, though as a working hypothesis it does
not explain so much as the other, that the simpler circles
are meant for eyes. It is that certain of the rock-cuttings
are especially meant to avert the supposed evil effects of
ccli2:)scs.

In the paper of 1892 above referred to, I have quoted
]\lajor Conder's statement that in the East, where the
belief in the evil eye is thoroughly practical and serious,
it seems to be partly identified with the malign influ-
ences of the sun and moon; sunstroke being only too
obvious, and moonstroke— whether the cold, white light
of the moon has really anything to do with it or not —
being a known consequence of sleeping out under a clear
night sky in the Tropics.

As to eclipses, again, which are harmless but formid-
able looking, it may be noticed that a court of justice in
Madras was adjourned, in the course of the present year,
because the native lawyers knew that there was to be an
eclipse, and would do nothing at that time. This shows,
by the way, how little science affects these things.

What suggested this meaning of some of the rock-
cuttings to me was the occurrence in the largest cutting
on the Dod Law (one of two fine, large circles) of a large
cup, or rather bowl, between the two. It is on an outer
circle which, whether intentionally or not, is only carried
half I'ouiid the larger set. It seems evident that this



IN NORTHUMBERLAND. 211

large cup between the circles must mean something, and
the idea did occur to me, supposing them to stand for
the sun and moon, that it might s3nnbolise an echpse.
The larger circle has a very slight groove.

And when, in another season, I saw the rock-cuttings
at Old Bewick, some six or seven miles distant, I was
convinced that the principal figures on the rock, which
has been repeatedly engraved, have the same object,
though the representation is different. Of two large sets
of circles, the smaller one (presumabl}^ the moon) over-
laps the other ; and it (the smaller one) is pierced to the
centre by a huge groove, more like the stake with which
Ulysses blinded Polyphemus than the javelin of the
Roman soldier. It extends downwards beyond the
circles, and ends in another circle, from which another
wide groove runs on to still another. The whole ai'm
and hand, from the elbo\v, can be placed in the groove.
The size of the circles, I think, is about the same as that
of the pair engraved by Mr. Coles: about 20 ins. across.
These latter, I think, are the largest yet found in Gallo-
way, where they have only been observed within the
last ten or twelve years.

The larger of the pair of separate cii'cles, with tlie
large cup interposed, on the Dod Law, is 34 ins. across ;
and the larger of the similar but ruder pair on Chatton
Law, 40 ins. There is no cup in this case, though there
are four small cups and rings on the rock. It is hard to
say which of these pairs of large circles is meant by the
engraving in Simpson's work on the subject. It is attri-
buted to Chatton Law ; but the large cup has been put
in, probably from a confused recollection, on one side of
the larger circle. There are circle-marked rocks about
the Moss of Crinan, in Argyleshire, traversed by the
canal. One set is 3 ft. across. And I sliould infer both
that they have been always known, and that some sort
of importance was attached to them, for they may have
named the place ; cruinne is Gaelic for a circle. It is,
of course, connected with crown, etc. ; but in one of the
collections of Irish tales published some years ago, there
is a beneficent Cyclops named Crinnawn. He may or
may not have something to do with Odin, fur there are



212 SOME ROCK-CUTTINGS

Scandinavian features in the stories ; and a rude rock-
cutting from Sweden, of a human figure with a cup and
ring for a face, is given by Mr, Romillj Alien. But this
brings us back to Polyphemus.

It was observing that concentric circles like the rock-
cuttings occur on the ground of some of the early Greek
vases with this subject, that enabled me to form a work-
ing hypothesis about the rock-cuttings. Mr, Homilly
Allen, in his recent paper, mentions that similar rounds,
but in relief, generally appear on the Gallo-Roman terra-
cotta plaques with the figure of Venus. He quotes for
this the Revue Archeologique, 3rd series, vol. xi, p. 144,
and Hoach Smith's Collectanea Antiqua, vol. vi, p. 53.
I do not vouch myself for the figure being that of Venus.
These identifications are often made on very slight
grounds ; but the authority is good, and the Celts seem
to have adopted the Roman deities very freely. But
the point is, that if the concentric circles really appear
with Venus, the mythological idea must be different
from that in the case of Polyphemus. He is a degraded
sun-god, though his divinity has become very dim ; and
it does not appear by what process the Cyclops were
identified with probably historical Mediterranean savages.
But Venus is not the Sun, neither is she the Moon : as
far as she has any elemental character, it is that of
Mother Earth; and it is possible that the rounds, in con-
nection with her, may signify the earth and the sky.
Her tortoise, on whose back she is sometimes seen stand-
ing, I have no doubt is the world-bearer of Eastern
mythology : in fact, there is a Hindoo legend which con-
nects the goddess who rises from the sea, under the
name of Lakshmi, with the tortoise.

As to what Mr. Romilly Allen says, in the same paper,
of the circles on the rocks being irregularly formed, and
apparently not intended for decoration, unless in rare
cases, it is altogether correct ; but the same circles occur
on ancient articles of personal use, in lines and groups
which can only be called decorative, though probably
they were only adopted for good luck. The two classes
of these which principally show them are combs and
pieces for playing games. The comb is a mythical imple-



IN NORTHUMBERLAND. 213

iiient in many cases, probably from tlie electric light it
evokes from the hair.

In the Antiquarian Museum in Edinburgh is a
draughtsman, or tableman, which at first sight looks like
a circular brooch, and is an elegant piece of bronze work.
The flat ring has, 1 think, nine cup-and-ring cuttings
engraved on it, and the open centre is filled up with a
pretty pattern in interlaced wire. Which material (wire)
I suspect as being the original one of Celtic knot-work.
The lines of holes are puzzling ; but sometimes they
seem to be a labour-saving way of producing a line.
Circles picked out in holes occur.

One reason, perhaps, why the circles have not been
more recognised as eyes, may be that in ancient Egypt,
where the eye was much relied on as a charm, it was the
half-closed eye of a hot country with sandy soil that
was represented in pottery, etc. In Italy, in Etruria,
the circles were boldly painted, and the eyelids faintly
indicated.

It may be added that the published engravings of
these simple figures are generally correct. There are
some exceptions. The uppermost set of circles on the
rock at the cross-roads, near the Ivoutin Linn, is
weathered or otherwise worn away on the upper side ;
and this I have seen more than once engraved as having
rays like fireworks proceeding from it. An outline
engraving, however, no matter how correct, gives little
idea of the actual appearance of the engraved rocks; the
autotype does represent them very exactly, and as they
usually are, not very distinct.

A new variety is engraved by Mr. Romilly Allen, as
found in several cases in Yorkshire. In it the groove is
represented by a ladder-like figure projecting beyond the
outer circle, I do not think this means anything parti-
cular, but that it has been produced by the copying of a
pattern not understood. The circles have often more
than one radial groove, and two of these near each other
would, of course, produce a ladder-like efiect, the seg-
ments of the circles between them representing the sto|>s.
'J'he original pattern has |)robably been like tliis ; but in
the cases referred to the steps do not always corre-



214



EOCK CUTTINGS IN NORTHUMBERLAND.



spond to the circles, and the ladder projects far beyond
them.

As the Northumbrian cases are interesting, it should
perhaps be mentioned that a local enthusiast, I forget
exactly where, professes to have found rock-cuttings on
the rocks at Wark worth and Morwick, on the Coquet,
and on those about the Iloutin Linn, and on the rock
called Cuddy's Cove. The three first are well worth
seeing, but it is as bits of natural scenery. There are
neither circles on the rocks, nor any likely surfaces for
them. Cuddy's Cove (the name has been transferred to
it from a shepherd's cottage nearer the coast) strongly
suggests the cell of an early mediaeval hermit. It is a
small cell, excavated in a large sandstone rock on a green
hill-side, but there are no carvings of any kind.



3 ft.




Xo. 3.
Docl Law, Northumberland.
Rubbing of Rock taken August, 1^



The illustration No. 3 is traced from a photograph of
a rubbing of the large circles on the Dod Law. The
workmanship of these is much better than that of the
other figures. Though I think they have all been done
by the C3"c, without measurement.



liECENT EXCAVATIONS IN AWATOBI
AND SIKYATKI.

BY DR. A. C. FRYER.
(Read 18 March 189i;.)




MOQUI legend tells us tliat in the year
1700 the people of Awatobi/ in the
north - east of Arizona, were cruelly
murdered by their neighbours. They
had received Christianity from Spanish
priests, and it was reputed that they
were wizards w^io dwelt in Awatobi
because they kept away the rain-clouds. So seven neigh-
bouring villages made a night-assault on the town at a
time when the men of Awatobi were engaged in religious
exercises in an underground chamber. The invaders
burnt them alive by casting down blazing fagots upon
them, and also a quantity of red pepper, to add to the
torture of their unfortunate victims. The legend adds
that most of the inhabitants of Awatobi who were not in
the subterranean chamber were also massacred, although
a few of the women and children were saved.

Old Spanish records speak of the destruction of this
place, and the spot is known to the Indians as "The
Mound of Death." Quite recently this mound has been
opened by Dr. J. W. Fewkes, and he has been able to
ascertain that fully one hundred men must have perished
in this tragedy. After the removal of the earth and
debris the walls of a " kiva" were discovered, and at the
bottom quantities of human bones were found. Many of
the bones had been charred b}^ fire. Near the gate of
the town a vast quantity of human bones was also dis-
covered. The bones in the underground chamber and in

1 Awatol'i sigiiilics '' Phvcc of llio Bow People.''



216 RECENT EXCAVATIONS

the heap near the gate were so mixed up as to preclude
the idea of mere burial, while among the Moqui the dead
are buried with care and reverence.

Sikyatki is another " dead city", and tradition declares
it was a ruin when the Spaniards came to America. The
cemetery was on each of the four sides of the town, and
the bodies had been laid in rows. Dr. Fewkes found
with each interment one or two food-vessels which had
been placed with the body. These basins are said to be
the tinest pottery ever taken from Indian graves in
North America. Many are ornamented with butterflies,
birds, and other designs. On the bottom of one is the
picture of a human hand, on another a mountain-sheep,
and yet another has the representation of a lizard-god.
These articles of pottery must be over four Irundred years
old, and yet the same shape of food-vessels are still used
by the Moquis and Zunis of to-day. Some of these
basins have painted portraits of women upon them, and
their hair is done up in the squash-flower fashion. At
the present day this fashion is used by the Moquis
women to indicate their age. The maiden has a coiffure
so formed as to appear like a ripe squash-flower on either
side of her head, while in old age the hair is twisted to
represent the dried and shrivelled stalk of the squash.

As many as five hundred food-basins were discovered.
In the case of one body, the bowl was full of arrow-
heads. One earthenware colander was also full of arrow-
heads. This colander was most likely used for making
sand-pictures. Such pictures are still part of the reli-
gious ceremonial of the Moquis to-day. Five little pots
of colours — red, yellow, green, black, and white — were
found. These were, perhaps; used for painting the face.
The black was oxide of manganese ; the white was kao-
lin, a sort of clay ; the yellow was yellow ochre ; the
red was oxide of iron obtained from hematite ; and tlie
green was malachite. One bowl was filled with cedar-
seeds, while one skeleton had a necklace of turkey-bones
stained green.

In one grave a clay eftigy re[)resenting an ear of corn
was found. It has been thought that this was intended
to be carried in reli^-ious ceremonials. A little mountain-



IN AWATOBT AND SIKYATKI. 217

lion, made of stone, was discovered. This, doubtless,
was a hunting fetish. A few earthenware ladles were
unearthed, with dragon-flies and tadpoles painted upon
them. A number of pipes, which are said to resemble in
shape the modern cigar-holders, were discovered. It has
been pointed out that they could not hold much tobacco,
but at the time they were in use smoking was merely a
ceremonial practice among the early aborigines of America.

Dr. Fewkes explored a strip of land lying between the
Verde River and the present Moqui country, and on the
south of this strip we are informed that he fgund a
number of castle-like edifices. One was built on the face
of a vertical escarpment some 300 ft. high, like the swal-
low's nest on a wall. The rock arching- overhead served
the purpose of a roof. This building had seven chambers.
The second floor had fallen in, and the lower floor was
covered with debris. The builders of this castle lived at
a period long before the Spanish conquest. Some of
their sandals, made of Yucca fibre, were found, and also
pieces of cotton cloth. Five hundred years ago these
people cultivated the cotton-plant, and spun and wove
the fibre. We are informed that in some of the pieces of
cloth the woof was of Yucca fibre, and the warp of cotton.
Hopes and string made of the fibre of the century plant
were also found in the debris, as well as a stick used for
making fire. This stick shows the holes in which the
point of another stick was revolved rapidly until the
friction caused io-nition.

Stone C3\sts containing skeletons were discovered be-
neath the level of the original floor. It may be that the
interments did not take place until the place was aban-
doned as a dwelling.

Other cliff' ruins were found northwards, towards the
present Moqui country. One rock-shelter is reported to
be an eighth of a mile long, and contained as many houses
as would acconnnodate four hundred people. Access was
obtained by means of ladders, and the occupants could
look upon the land beneath through peep-holes. There
is little doubt that when times became more ])eaceal)le
the tribe descended to the plains, and abandoned the old
clifl-d\vellin£:"s.



ANCIENT METHODS OF TILLAGE.




BY T. BLASHILL, ESQ.
[Read at the Stoke-upon- Trent Conrjress.)

HE observant traveller through those
portions of the country which, from
ancient times, have been cultivated by
the plough, will notice that the surface
of the land presents certain marked
characteristics. It is deeply scored by
furrows which divide the fields into
long strips of about eleven yards in width, the strips
being rounded so that the ridges are some eighteen
inches or more above the level of the furrows. This
effect has been produced through the turning of the soil
by the plough from the furrow towards the ridge, one
object being to enable the surface-water to run off the
strips into the furrows, by which it will make its way to
the lowest side of the field. But everyone does not
notice that these strips are otherwise than straight.
They are, in fact, in the ancient ploughland, always of a
double curvature, and in England they always present
the appearance of the letter S reversed (see illustration
on opposite page). They are often called " S lands", to
distinguish them from the straight strips of the land
which has been brought into cultivation in modern
times. In old documents these strips are called
" selions", and for the sake of clearness I will here so
distinguish them.

Land such as I have described originally formed the
common ploughland of the ancient manors, which was
divided amongst those entitled to it ; the lord of the
manor and his free tenants being the chief owners. The



ANCIENT METHODS OF TILLAGE.



219



ploughland of the Glebe was here, and the ploughland of
such religious communities as had acquired property in