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

islands in bays or in lake systems”. “No less than 79,9 % of the rock
carving sites ..... have a direct contact with this water level”
(Burenhult 1980: 30). This is also the case in nearly all instances where
cup-and-rings are involved, like in the area around Norrköping (Fig.
95), which may have been a landing area at the head of the fjord at a
point where it directly connected with a large lake. The cup-and-ring
sites in this small area (Figs 95 and 100) are all found relatively far
from the present water level on low hillocks, some of which may have
been islands in prehistoric times; a situation that may be compared
FIG. 100: CUP-AND-RING ART NEAR NORRKÖPING.
with the siting of rock art at Tjörn. Engravings of a later date in this
area are often found closer to the present day water level; a feature
common in other parts of Scandinavia (e.g. Fjösna, Hordaland).
Also Burenhult makes a distinction between rock art motifs close to
the prehistoric water level and those further inland. The latter group
almost exclusively consists of cupules, soles of feet and chariots
(1980: 34). In my opinion especially many of these cupules (the chariots
and feet being added in the Bronze Age) may have been executed by
the Neolithic migrants. Later in the Neolithic ringmarks developed
around existing or newly carved cupules, particularly at important key
areas, like convenient landing places. But it must be noted that in
Sweden (unlike Norway) there are no true cup-and-ring sites like we
have seen in the British Isles, Galicia and the Alpine area.
However, it is safe to state that, like in the British Isles, Galicia and
the Alps, the cup-and-ring motifs of Sweden (and indeed of the whole
study area), are strongly access-related in sense of movement of
mobile peoples across seascapes and landscapes. The same pattern
emerges in the next study area, the Hordaland Region of Norway. This
area will be discussed in the next Chapter.
M. van HOEK: 128
GEOGRAPHY