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

APPENDIX 6
There is always a problem with statistical information concerning
numbers of rock art motifs. Each year new discoveries add to the
number of symbols. Therefore, also this book must be regarded as an
interim report. But there are some other problems.
Even the most recent works on rock art contain discrepancies that
make it difficult to establish the exact number of motifs. The
following comments are not intended to denigrate earlier publications,
but merely serve to explain the difficulties. For instance, Coles (1990:
Fig. 40) illustrates a “disc-man” at Finntorp without a central cupule
(Fig. 155,inset C), whereas his photograph of the temporarily paintedin-site
(1990: Fig. 22) shows a central cupule after all. Fortunately, a
fine natural photograph by Hasselroth & Ohlmarks (1966: 104) clearly
indicates that the “disc-man” truly has a central cupule.
FIGURE 118: ASPEBERGET.
A similar problem occurs at Aspeberget T 18B. A painted-in photograph
(Milstreu & Prøhl 1996: 66) shows five cup-and-rings (marked A, B, C
and D in Fig. 118.1), whereas the drawing of the same panel in the same
book (Milstreu & Prøhl 1996: 67) only shows three examples (Fig.
118.2). The cup-and-ring at C proves to have been drawn as a typical
“leaping” figure, a very old, universal symbol (Wanke 1999: 53).
However, which illustration is correct ? The only solution is to inspect
the rock oneself.
But then other problems occur. The hard granites of Bohuslän for
example are not deeply carved and moreover often face towards the
south. Even in fine weather the petroglyphs are hard to discern. For
those reasons, many rocks have been painted in indelibly by the
M. van HOEK: 150
GEOGRAPHY