268 



h an Inmeb ^atfiiiig on t^e Imya^t of tlje 

 §xmt Knlitfjoit, at c^toidjenge^ 



By John Thuenam, M.D., F.S.A. 



Read at the Annual Meeting at Devizes, November 21th, 1864. 



j^F late years, attention has been much directed to certain curious 

 incised markings on the surface of rocks, adjacent to ancient 

 British camps and earthworks. There is great variety in their 

 form and arrangement, but they principally consist of concentric 

 circles surrounding a central dot or cup, from which a line more 

 or less straight extends outwards, bisecting one half of the circles 

 and reaching some distance beyond it ; and so producing a figure 

 somewhat resembling the small Greek (p. These peculiar emblems 



Fig. 1. — Principal Varieties of Ancient Incised Markings on Rocks or Stones in Northumberland. 



or symbols of totally unknown import, are clearly the work and 

 device of man, and the common thought of some one people. They 

 are particularly numerous in the more northern parts of England, 

 and in Scotland ; and especially in the counties of Northumberland 



