Maarten van Hoek The Geography of Cup-and-Ring ... - StoneWatch

public to trace and visit rock art sites and consequently vandalism is
often inevitable, especially near tourist centres like Bayona.
A correct location map is, however, an absolute condition to discuss
geographical patterns and it often is the only base for establishing
intervisibility and for the interpretation of rock art. Therefore, the
only way to produce sound conclusions about the patterns of rock art in
an area, is to survey the area and the sites in the field oneself. For
that reason all cup-and-ring regions discussed in this work have been
checked by me in the field.
However, I decided to produce my distribution maps without any
modern features. Roads, tracks and vegetation are lacking on these
maps as these features do not explain prehistoric distribution
patterns. In this way my maps will hardly be suitable for location
purposes by the general public, but accessible to the scientific and
interested reader and still useful for interpretation purposes.
* 1.1.1.2 Another detail often lacking on distribution maps are
the names of the rock art sites. It is, however, very understandable
that the placement of sites names on a map may cause a problem; there
is often too little space to put all the often different names on the
map, especially when many sites cluster together in a small area, which
is often the case (for instance, it was not possible to name or number
the sites on the Isle of Bute, Scotland, on Fig. 188). It is therefore
recommended that especially distribution maps with a special message
must at least show a selection of site names, whereas general maps only
need to include some of the major site names or some geographical
names for easy orientation.
But maps without names are often rather useless. It notably often
proves that only when someone is familiar with the area covered by a
distribution map without names, it is possible for the reader to check
the results of the survey. In Chapter 1.2.3.2 I will discuss an example
of an insufficient distribution map dealing with the rock art sites of
Northumberland in the north of England (Bradley 1997: 87) and the
consequences for the conclusions based upon this map.
However, it must be stressed that none of the comments in this book is
by no means meant to denigrate or minimise the great efforts of the
various devoted researchers mentioned in this work, as I know from
experience how much work is involved before one reaches the stadium
of interpretation. Also, errors occur quite easily and hence I will
greatly appreciate to receive any remarks about this work. In any case
I hope that this book will be a stimulus towards more open discussion.
M. van HOEK: 4
GEOGRAPHY