What is recorded here
Rock art in Letter West carries a straight pickmark line and two cupmarks on a shallow sandstone slab. Freeze/thaw has bitten the edge and blurred the marks, yet the line still crosses the stone like a rule drawn across heath and sky. The upland slope faces northeast above the Behy River valley, giving the small design a wide horizon and a quiet warning that time keeps erasing what people believed they were recording.
In upland heath, on a gentle NE-facing slope (168m OD); lots of rock outcrop exposed across area and stream close to SE. Overlooked by mountains SE->W->NE and overlooking Behy River valley to NE. A smooth and fractured, sandstone rock outcrop (dims. 1.10m N-S; 2.60m E-W; 0.15m (max. H)) that has a generally flat, rectangular decorated surface (dims. 0.70m NW-SE; 0.40m NE-SW). The rock art is very weathered and there is clear evidence of freeze/thaw action. A line of pickmarks (L 70cm NE-SW; Wth 2cm; D 4mm) is located off-centre to N; freeze/thaw is evident at NE-end where part of this motif has flaked away. A cupmark (diam. 5cm; D 9mm) is located 1.5cm to N and a second cupmark (diam. 4cm; D 7mm) is located c. 18cm to S of this line. The second cupmark is very rough and may have weathered more than its original depth. A small linear groove (L 5cm NW-SE; Wth 1.5cm; D 3mm) is 3.5cm to WSW of northern cupmark. A small cluster of pickmarks is located to SE of the main pickmark line. Two irregular-shaped, weathered depressions to N and S of the pickmark line.
Compiled by: Alison McQueen and Vera Rahilly
Date of upload: 27 March 2017
The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.
- What survives
- Recorded monument
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