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| The Old Wife's
Neck is one of seven or more small standing stones arranged in an east to west
alignment across the eastern slopes of Shooting House Rigg. Although
it is the tallest of the group at 75cm high it is its curious profile
when viewed from certain angles that make this stone so memorable. As can be seen from the photograph above at this angle the stone can be seen to resemble a human head and torso yet when when viewed from the front of the 'head' the stone appears as a plain 'L' shape rock. It would seem plausible that the Bronze Age people who raised this stone were aware of its human likeness and it would be tempting to speculate that it was seen as some kind of idol stone or even a guardian of their territory. When I visited the site the area was blanketed in drizzle and low cloud and it was not difficult to imagine the effect on a prehistoric traveler of the sight of a stone human figure looming out of the mist. Another stone that gives a similar effect can be found in Derbyshire at Gardom's Edge. On the other hand these simulacra, as they are known, may simply be the result of our modern search for meaning in ancient sites and the stones may not have been seen as anything special by their constructors. The alignment of stones on this hillside seem to form an early part of a much larger monument. The photograph below shows the banks and ditches of a long linear earthwork that follows the line of stones, there are five banks and three ditches with the stones set into the outer banks. This cross dyke is thought to form part of a Bronze Age territorial division of the land which might lend credence to the Old Wife's Neck being seen as a guardian stone. The whole earthwork which is 40 metres wide and extends nearly 800 metres can clearly be seen running left to right (west to east) on the satellite image at the bottom of the page, the Old Wife's Neck is located towards the western end, a short distance to the left of the track seen running from top to bottom. |
 Mist, rain and mud. Looking west where the track (running left-right in the foreground) along Shooting House Rigg cuts through the earthwork of the cross dyke. Two banks and a ditch are visible in the centre with a further bank to the far right of the picture. |
 Bing satellite image of the Shooting House Rigg cross dyke running from left to right across the centre of the picture and stretching to almost either side of the image. The scale bars represent 200 feet and 50 metres. |
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