THE 20th event of this year's Friends of Ilkley Moor's Events and Learning Programme took place on Saturday (August 12) and it was an Archaeology Trail.

The group lead by Colin Beecham, of The Friends of Ilkley Moor, visited over 20 Cup and Ring marked rocks (the carvings are over 4,000 years old carved during the Neolithic-Bronze Age), walking over three miles on the lower and higher slopes of the moor. Two of the group from Australia were very impressed by the marks on the rocks having not seen or heard of them previously. The designs of cups, rings and lines are intriguing and enigmatic. The reason they were carved is unknown, but they are fascinating.

The trail ended at the Backstone Beck Enclosure, the site of an enclosure and hut circle dating from the Bronze age –900-400 BC, situated on a ridge on the east side of the beck. The enclosure was the home of an extended family who farmed the area. The site was excavated and reconstructed in the early 1980s by the Ilkley Archaeology Group. During the excavation they found flint, pottery shards and charcoal. Analysis of the charcoal indicates that the area was most probably used as a camp site by hunter/gathers for approximately 2000-2500 years before being settled.

More information about other events on the Moor can be downloaded from the Friends website www.ilkeymoor.org and copies of the programme can be collected from Ilkley Information Centre or in shops and cafes in the Town.