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Petrosomatoglyphs (PSG) are images of parts of the human or animal body incised in rock. Many were created by Celtic peoples, such as the Picts, Scots, Irish, Cornish, Cumbrians, Breton and Welsh. These representations date from the Dark Ages, others of uncertain purpose, date back to Megalithic times. They were an important form of symbolism, used in religious and secular ceremonies, such as the crowning of kings. Some are regarded as artifacts linked to Saints and Folklore heroes, such as King Arthur. The word comes from the Greek words "petros" meaning "stone" , glyphein meaning "to carve" and the term somatic refering to the body. Feet are the most common, however knees, elbows, hands and fingers are also found.

File:Dunaddfootprint.jpg

A footprint carved into the rock on Dunadd in Argyll. It is linked with the 'crowning' of the Scots kings of Dalriada.

The term petrosomatoglyph (PSG) should not be confused with petroglyph which covers all incised representations of living or non-living things or with pictograph, which is an image drawn or painted on a rock face, both of which contribute to the wider and more general category of rock art. Petroforms, or patterns and shapes such as labyrinths and mazes made by many large rocks and boulders in rows over the ground, are also quite different.

Natural objects, such as rock crystals and rock formations which look like PSGs, whole animals, plants, etc. are collectively called 'mimeoliths'.

Natural versus Man-Made PSGs

Many examples of PSG's are likely to be natural in origin, however they still have relevance as they have often become associated with mythological heroes, saints, etc. Some may be man-made but have become a PSG by the original function being forgotten. Creationists have been accused of faking Human footprints in areas where dinosaur prints are found to support their beliefs.

1. A possible example of a re-used concavity is the footprint on Dunadd which some locals at one time thought was a cast for an axe head (Thomas 1878-9).

2. A pseudofossil of an apparent footprint of a human foot wearing sandals with a trilobite fossil in the print has been quoted by anti-evolutionists to show that modern man did walk the Earth at this time, around five hundred million years ago.

3. The Burdick Print (or Burdick Track) from Glen Rose, Texas, USA is claimed by some Creationists to be part of a "giant man track" , walking alongside dinosaurs.

Animal PSGs

Dogs

1. In the Mabinogion the story is told of Culhwch & Olwen and part of this relates to the hunting by King Arthur and his knights of the wild boar Twrch Trwyth with dogs. Cefn Carn Cafall (the ridge of Cafall's cairn) is a mountain near Builth in Breconshire where the footprint of King Arthur's favourite hunting dog, Cafall, is located in a conglomerate boulder on top of the cairn. If taken away the boulder always mysteriously returns to its position on the cairn (Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain). Cafal or Cabal also appears in Geraint of the Mabinogion as Arthur's favourite hunting dog in the hunting of the white stag (Ralls -MacLeod 2003).

Horses

Royal and other horses were sacred to Epona, the horse-goddess.

1. Near Castell Cilan in Gwynedd, North Wales is a stone embedded in the ground bearing the hoof-print of King Einion's horse (Pennick 1996).
2. At Llanllyfni in Wales is the hoof-print of the horse of St. Gredfyw.
3. Close to Llyn Barfog in Wales is a hoof-print etched deep into the rock 'Carn March Arthur', or the 'Stone of Arthur's Horse', which was supposedly made by King Arthur's mount, 'Llamrai', when it was hauling the terrible "afanc" monster from the lake.
4. Not far from the Devil's Quoit in St.Columb, on the edge of the Gossmoor in Cornwall, is a large stone, with deeply-impressed marks known as 'King Arthur's Stone'. The marks were made by the horse upon which Arthur rode when he resided at Castle Denis and hunted on the moors (Ralls-MacLeod 2003).
5. A winged horse named El-Buraq which had the face and breasts of a woman and the tail of a peacock was tethered for a period of time on the Rock or foundation stone of the Holy Jewish Temple in Israel, leaving a hoofprint on the Rock.

Bears

1. In Roseville, California a bear “footprint” was carved into one portion of the Northstar stone representative of a bear walking in a docile manner, the back print overlapping with the print of the forepaw.
2. A bear footprint carving is located in Northwestern California.
3. A large carving representing the claw marks of a bear can be seen at Chaw’se, Indian Grinding Rock State Park near Fiddletown, California.
4. The St.Victor's Petroglyphs in Provincial Park, Saskatchewin, Canada feature Grizzly Bears paw-prints.

Miscellaneous Animals

1. The St.Victor's Petroglyphs in Provincial Park, Saskatchewin, Canada feature Bison, Deer , Elk and Antelope.

The Devil

1. At the ruined Kirk of Lady, near Overbister on Sanday, Orkney are the Devil's Fingermarks, incised as parallel grooves into the parapet of the kirk (Folklore, Myths & Legends of Britain).
2. The Devil made it to Rhode Island in the USA, and he probably came from Massachusetts. In North Kingstown is a large, granite ledge known as Devil's Foot Rock. Legends going back to the colonial era tell of a squaw being chased by the devil. Some say that she fled from Boston. Her pursuer is said to have left his footprints at Devil's Foot Rock, then at Chimney Hill in South Kingstown, and finally at Block Island.
3. At Dol de Bretagne in Brittany are found the claw mark of the Devil on Mont Dol as well as the footprints of St. Michael.

Human PSGs

Foot Prints

The Romans were accustomed to carve pairs of footprints on a stone with the inscription pro itu et reditu , which translates as 'for the journey and return' . They used them for protective rights on leaving for a journey and for thanksgiving for a safe return, when the traveller would place his or her feet in the footprints to mark the beginning or end of the undertaking. This same story is told of King Maelgwn of Gwynedd in North Wales who placed his feet in carved footprints to ensure his safe return from a pilgrimage to Rome.

Footprints at Belmont, Londonderry Road, Ireland

In northern Europe, rock footprints were closely associated with Kingship or Chieftanship. Saxo Grammaticus notes that 'The ancients, when they came to choose a King, stood on stones planted in the ground to proclaim their votes, signifying from the steadfastness of the stones that the deed would be lasting'. Several reputed royal footprints survive in former Pictish power-places.

Standing on a special stone is a link between the King and the land from which his people earned their food. Links with King Arthur and 'The Sword in the Stone' called Excalibur , may be relevant in this context of Kingship, a right to power over his subjecvts and links with nature.

The upper echelons of the clergy of the Celtic Church were drawn from the nobility, indeed even some Kings retired to become monks and eventually even saints, as in the case of King Constantine of Cornwall who retired to Govan on the Clyde in Scotland. This meant that the association of stone footprints was also made with the saints, bishops and others.

The poet Spenser states that the custom amongst the Irish was to place the man who is to be chief upon a stone, always reserved for that purpose alone and located on a hill. Some of these had a footprint cut into them which was the size and shape of the candidates'. The oath was taken with the foot in the footprint, the individual swearing that as chief he would preserve all the ancient customs and respect the laws of royal inheritance.

Footprints have been found in Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Sri Lanka (Adam's Foot), Uganda,

The Clickhimin Broch footprints on Shetland.

1. Footprint PSGs in Scotland

1. Among Cup and ring marks on a boulder at Carnasserie, two miles from Kilmartin in Argyll are carved a pair of feet.
2. At St.Mary's Church in Burwick, South Ronaldsay, Orkney is the Ladykirk Stone on which St. Magnus's is said to have sailed over the Pentland Firth. It has two clear footprints cut into it (Folklore, Myths & Legends of Britain).
3. A pair of footprints are carved in a stone slab in a causeway at the Broch of Clickhimin (or Clickemin) in Shetland. This site was occupied from about 1000 BC to AD 500 (Breeze 1997).
4. Two footprints are to be found at Dunadd (Dun Monaidh), ancient capital of Scot's Dalriada. The completed one faces north and is accompanied by an image of a boar, rock-basins possibly cut for ceremonial ablutions and an ogham inscription. This footprint is said to be that of Ossian or Fergus Mor Mac Erca, the first King of Dalriada who died in AD 501 (Thomas 1878-9). St. Columba is said to have installed Aidan as King on this rock (Ralls-MacLeod 2003). The best preserved footprint is 27 cms long, nearly 11 cms wide, 9 cms across at the heel and 2.5 cms deep; so large that it would fit a foot clothed in a shoe or boot (Breeze 1997). A second incomplete footprint is a lightly-pecked outline of a shod right foot, 24 cms long and 10 cms in maximum width. It has a pronounced taper to the heel, further internal peck-marks suggest that it was to have been hollowed out. It is on the same alignment as the other footprint (Roy. Comm. Anc. Hist. Monu. Scot 1999).

5. A crag near the chapel of Keil and St. Columba's Well, between Dunaverty Bay and Carskey in Kintyre, has two footprints carved at a place where St. Columba is reputed to have first set foot in Dalriada, Scotland. One is recent and the other genuinley old. Kingship rituals may have been connected with this PSG (Ralls-MacLeod 2003).
6. St. Columba's footprints are to be found at Southend in Argyll (Breeze 1997).
7. Footprints used to exist at Yell in Shetland (Breeze 1997).
8. Two examples exist in Angus (Breeze 1997).
9. On Islay there was a Stone of Inauguration by Loch Finlaggan. It was seven feet square and had footprints cut into it. Whan a chief of the Clan Donald was installed as the 'King of the Isles' he stood barefoot on the imprints on the stone, and with his father's stone in his hand was anointed King by the Bishop of Argyll and seven priests. During the ceremony an orator recited a list of his ancestors and he was proclaimed 'Macdonald, high prince of the seed of Conn'. The block was deliberately destroyed in the early seventeenth century (Bord 1976).

2. Footprint PSGs in Ireland

1. Close to St. Olann's Well at Coolineagh, near Coachford, County Cork, are the footprints of St. Olann on a boulder.
2. In the garden of Belmont, on the Greencastle Road, about a mile from Londonderry there was in 1837 a block called St. Columba's Stone with two footprints on it. It may have been the inauguration stone of the Kings of Aileach, brought here by the local Chief of Derry (Thomas 1878-9).
3. On the Clare Hills in Ireland, on the Gort to Feakle road in the townland of Drumandoora is the engraved outline or impression of a foot clothed by a sandal.
4. On the Hill of Lech or previously Mullach Leaght, the Hill of the Stone , three miles south-west of Monaghan in Ireland was the inauguration stone of the Mac Mahons. It was used in 1595 and destroyed by a farm owner in 1809.(Thomas 1878-9).

File:Bretonfootprints.jpg

The footprints and associated markings from Arzon Cromlech in Morbihan, Brittany

5. At Clonmacnoise, King's County, Ireland , close to the Chapel of Clonfinlough there are several limestone boulders, one of which is called the Fairy's or Horseman's Stone. It has many cup-shaped hollows, croses, daggers, and a pair of human feet.
6. At Templemore in County Londonderry is a slab named St. Columbkille's Stone. It has the imprint of two feet, each ten inches in length. traditionally it was the inauguration stone of the ancient Irish chieftans (Bord 1976).

3. Footprint PSGs in Wales

1. On a rock formerly visible at the eastern end of Holyhead church in Anglesey was the footprint of St. Cybi.

4. Footprint PSGs in Cornwall

1. 'King Arthur's Footprint' is a hollow in the rock at the highest point of Tintagel Island's southern side. It is not entirely natural, having been shaped by human hands at some stage (Ralls-MacLeod 2003).

5. Footprint PSGs in England

1. At Poole Farm in Somerset a cist cover was found with Footprints and cupmarks.
2. The footprinted 'Calderstones' in Liverpool may have come from a Lancashire passage-grave (Pennick 1996).

6. Footprints PSGs in the Isle of Man

1. The Swearing Stone found at Castleward earthwork was probably used in inauguration ceremonies (Bord 1976).

7. Footprint PSGs in Brittany

1. A passage-grave at Petit-Mont Arzon in Brittany contains a stone with a pair of feet, toes pointing upwards (Pennick 1996).
2. At Dol de Bretagne in Brittany are found the footprints of St.Michael on Mont Dol as well as a claw mark of the Devil.

8. Footprint PSGs in other parts of the World

1. A set of Jesus's footprints, according to legend, are preserved at the Church of Domine Quo Vadis outside of Rome.
2. A footprint of Buddha with Dharmacakra and Triratna symbols from the 1st century, is to be found at Gandhāra, Northern Pakistan.

These footprints are associated with figures such as ships, shields and people.

3. Moso's Footprint in Samoa was made when the giant Moso stepped over to Samoa from Fiji, and the other footprint can be found on Viti Levu of Fiji. It is a 1m by 3m rock enclosure.
4. On Sri Pada, or Adam's Peak, a mountain in Sri Lanka is a footprint mark said by Buddhists to be that of the left foot of the Buddha, the right footprint being in a city about 150 kilometres distant, or at Phra Sat in Thailand. Tamil Hindus consider it to be the footprint of Shiva. Some Muslims and Christians ascribe it to Adam where Adam the first Ancestor is said to have set foot as he was exiled from the Garden of Eden. Sometimes Christians ascribe it to Saint Thomas, the 'Apostle of India'.
5. Footprints of the Buddha also exist in Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, the Maldives, Pakistan, Singapore, and Burma.
6. The St.Victor's Petroglyphs in Provincial Park, Saskatchewin, Canada feature Human footprints.

Knee Prints

A tradition of body-part impressions at holy wells, rivers and beneath waterfalls comes from the fact that Celtic monks often prayed in such places, continuing the veneration of the Druid's for sacred water. Folk belief ascribes healing powers to waters taken from these holy impresssions and the this water was used to cure sickness, wounds and sores, as well as preventing or curing sickness in animals, such as cattle (Pennick 1996).

1. At Llangynnlo in Wales are Olgliniau Cynllo, the knee prints of King Cynllo at prayer.
2. At Troedraur in Dyfed, South Wales are the knee-marks of St. Gwyndaf Hen impressed on a flat rock in the bed of the River Ceri. These are 'potholes' made by the grinding effect of stone in the river currents to the sceptics!
2. St Cynwyl in the river at Caio in Wales.
4. St. Beuno at Llanaelhaiarn in Wales.

Hands and Arms

1. A diminutive pair of hands are carved on a boulder beside the Crinan Canal in Argyll (Hadingham 1974).
2. The St.Victor's Petroglyphs in Provincial Park, Saskatchewin, Canada feature hand-prints.
3. From Waldenbuch in Germany is a four sided stone pillar with scroll carving and a left arm and hand (Powell 1966).

Eyes

1. At St.Mary's Church in Newchurch-in-Pendle, an eye is carved on the tower, said to be the all-seeing eye of God. Local tradition says that it was originally placed there to protect the worshippers from the witches who once plagued the district (Folklore, Myths & Legends of Britain).
2. In Almeria, Spain, is a carved limestone pilar with eyes or the oculos / oculi motif. The eyes have eyebrows and / or accentuating arcs. An 'eye goddess' may have existed as shown by many other examples of carved oculi (Powell 1966).
3. The Folkton 'drums' are made of chalk and are elaborately carved, with distinct oculi or eyes (Powell 1966).
4. Petrospheres or carved stone balls from Scotland, especially the Aberdeen area, often have concentric carved lines, some of which appear to be stylised oculi (Powell 1966).

Heads

The Celts are well known for their cult of the 'severed head' of which many examples exist as three dimensional carvings or sculptures. PSGs are much rarer.

1. Pump Sant Stone near Carmarthen in Wales has the imprint in it of the heads of the five saints, named Ceitho, Celynnin, Gwyn, Gwyno and Gwynoro. The stone is made of Diorite, a very hard stone brought from another district. It stands on a mound facing the Ogofau Lodge of Dolaucothi House, near to the Roman Gold Mines. It has depressions on all four faces characteristic of the wear produced from crushing quartz (Invent. Anc. Mon. Wales & Mon 1917).
2. The Serpent Stone from a Roman cemetery in Maryport in Cumbria has a Celtic severed head wearing a torc carved on the top of a phallic-shaped pillar. On the back is a carving of a serpent (Sharp 1997).
3. The Husjatyn god-pillar from the River Zbrucz in Galicia, Poland, has several heads carved on its four sides, together with images of horses, people and weapons (Pennick 1997).
4. A pointed stone from Rottenburg, at Stammheim in Stuttgart has a rudimentary human face carved on it (Pennick 1997).
5. From Entremont, Bouches-du-Rhone in France is a four sided stone pillar with numerous engraved stone heads. The pillar came from the Celtic sanctuary which was destroyed by the Romans in 124 BC (Powell 1966).

Multiple Body Parts

1. At Portpatrick on the Island of St. Kilda there is the impression of a pair of knees and a right hand, said to be those of St. Patrick in the posture of prayer.
2. In Cornwall, St. Newlyna knelt on a stone and left the impression of her elbows and knees in the posture of prayer.
3. At Llanllyfni are found stones with the knee-prints, thumb and bed of St. Gredfyw.
4. Medicine Rock in the USA was located on a hill fifteen miles west of Gettysburg, near the mouth of the Cheyenne Creek. Indians considered it to be a sacred rock and visited it regularly. Five footprints, hand prints and animal prints were originally visible, made by the Great Spirit of the Native Americans.

Recent and Modern PSGs

1. At Smithills Hall, near Bolton in Lancashire is the impressed footprint at the bottom of a set of stairs of George Marsh, a Protestant martyr. He was interrogated at the hall and then taken to Boughton in Cheshire to be burnt in 1555. The footprint is said to be a divine reminder of this unjust persecution and murder (Folklore, Myths & Legends of Britain).
2. Often impressions of hands are made in concrete to commemorate the famous as at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on 'pavement' slabs or in wet concrete, just for fun!
3. Making footprints in stone of family members as part of new Age beliefs.

References

An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire. V. County of Carmarthen. (1917). Roy. Com. Anc. Hist. Monu. Const. in Wales & Mon. P. 33.
An Inventory of the monuments extracted from Argyll, V.6. Kilmartin Prehistoric & Early Historic Monuments. Roy. Comm. Anc. Hist. Monu. Scot. ISBN 1-902419-03-0. Pps. 89-90.
Bord, Janet & Colin. (1976). The Secret Country. Pub. Paul Elek. ISBN 0-236-40048-7. Pps. 66-67.
Breeze, David & Munro, Graeme. (1997). The Stone of Destiny. Symbol of Nationhood. Historic Scotland. ISBN 1-900168-44-8. Pps. 12 - 15.
Folklore, Myths & Legends of Britain. (1973). Reader's Digest. London.
Hadingham, Evan. (1974). Ancient Carvings in Britain: A Mystery. Garnstone Press. ISBN 0-85511-391-X. P. 88.
Jones, G. & Jones, T. (1973). The Mabinogion. Everyman Library. ISBN 0-460-00097-7.
Ralls-MacLeod, Karen & Robertson, Ian. (2003). The Quest for the Celtic Key. Luath Press. ISBN 1-84282-031-1. P. 116.
Pennick, Nigel. (1996) . Celtic Sacred Landscapes. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-01666-6.
Pennick, Nigel. (1997). The Celtic Cross. An Illustrated History and Celebration. Blandford. ISBN 0-7137-2641-5. Pps. 32-33.
Powell, T.G.E. (1966). Prehistoric Art. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-20046-7.
Sharp, Mick. (1997). Holy Places of Celtic Britain. Blandford. ISBN 1-85079-315-8. P. 89.
Thomas, F.W.L. & Scot, S.A. (1878-79). Dunadd, Glassary, Argyllshire. Proc Soc Antiq. Scot. Vol. 1. - New Series. Pps. 28 - 47.

External Links

[[1]] The Burdick Print of the naked foot of a Giant Man.
[[2]] Footprint Rock in Ohio, USA.
[[3]] Footprints of the Devil.
[[4]] A fossil footprint with a Trilobite in it.
[[5]] St.Columba's footprints at Southend in Argyll.
[[6]] Cabal's or Cafal's Cairn and King Arthur's hunting dog's pawprint.

@@ Line 124: / Line 124: @@
 ===Heads===
+The Celts are well known for their cult of the 'severed head' of which many examples exist as three dimensional carvings or sculptures. PSGs are much rarer.
 *1. Pump Sant Stone near Carmarthen in Wales has the imprint in it of the heads of the five saints, named Ceitho, Celynnin, Gwyn, Gwyno and Gwynoro. The stone is made of Diorite, a very hard stone brought from another district. It stands on a mound facing the Ogofau Lodge of Dolaucothi House, near to the Roman Gold Mines. It has depressions on all four faces characteristic of the wear produced from crushing quartz (Invent. Anc. Mon. Wales & Mon 1917).
 *2. The Serpent Stone from a Roman cemetery in Maryport in Cumbria has a Celtic severed head wearing a torc carved on the top of a phallic-shaped pillar. On the back is a carving of a serpent (Sharp 1997).
 *3. The Husjatyn god-pillar from the River Zbrucz in Galicia, Poland, has several heads carved on its four sides, together with images of horses, people and weapons (Pennick 1997).
 *4. A pointed stone from Rottenburg, at Stammheim in Stuttgart has a rudimentary human face carved on it (Pennick 1997).
+*5. From Entremont, Bouches-du-Rhone in France is a four sided stone pillar with numerous engraved stone heads. The pillar came from the Celtic sanctuary which was destroyed by the Romans in 124 BC (Powell 1966).
 ===Multiple Body Parts===