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

* 2.1.1 THE ALPINE SITUATION *
We already have noticed the scarcity of true cup-and-rings in the Alps;
there are found about 640 examples (Fig. 123) at just 24 locations.
But we also noticed the remarkable anomaly that this “empty” area
houses the richest cup-and-ring site of Europe, Carschenna. It is also
no surprise that the number of concentric rings is limited: in the Alps
seventeen sites have been reported to have two or more concentric
rings and of these only nine sites feature complex cup-and-ring motifs
(three rings or more).
Having seen these numbers, it is small wonder that cupules with five
rings or more are extremely rare in the Alps (Fig. 58). Only twelve
examples exist, heavily concentrated at three sites in the central part
of the Alps. It moreover proves that the three places where these
twelve cupules with five or more rings occur, belong to the most
important cup-and-ring sites of the Alps. Nine examples are found even
at one single site, Carschenna (Fig. 65 and Fig. 122); two examples
occur at nearby Tinizong (T in Fig. 65), and there is only one in Italy,
near Sonico (Figs 63 and 65).
Is it possible that there is a specific reason for the complex art at
these three locations ? The answer is: yes ! These three important
sites, the only places where cupules with five or more rings in the Alps
occur, prove to be located on a major ancient route through the Alps
(see Chapter 1.4.1.2.2 for more details).
In summary, we noticed that in the Valcamonica in northern Italy (Fig.
64), only two complex cup-and-ring sites are found; strikingly at either
end of the valley. One at Luine (10 in Fig. 58), near the southern
entrance; the other, just east of Sonico (8 in Fig. 58) near the north
end of the valley, features the only cupule with more than five rings of
Italy. From the site at Sonico one has the first views of the entrance
to the valley leading towards the Aprica pass; the gateway to Valtelina,
a major east-west running valley connecting with two routes leading
north to Tinizong and Carschenna, both fully discussed in Chapter
1.4.1.2.3. At both Tinizong and Carschenna we find a relatively large
number of cupules with five or more rings, confirming the importance
of the routes via Lenzerheide to Chur on the river Rhine.
Whereas cupules, often with grooves, occur in almost every corner of
the Alps, even in valleys that clearly are “cul-de-sacs” like the
Lötschental in Switzerland (north of site 15 on Fig. 58), it proves that
complex cup-and-ring art significantly is exclusively present near
passes and on major routes through the Alps.
M. van HOEK: 157 GEOGRAPHY