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

The distribution in south Sweden is more or less similar to situations in
Scotland, with also a major landing area on the west coast, Bohuslän, a
belt of complex rock art sites through the interior using a chain of
large lakes, and two heavy concentrations near the east coast,
Norrköping and Lake Mälar. This latter area is known for its many
cupuled rocks, some of which have been ringed.
* 2.1.5 CONCLUSIONS *
Having discussed the major cup-and-ring regions of Europe, there
proves to exist a striking concentration of complex cup-and-rings in
special key areas within the rock art regions of Europe. Especially
cupules with five or more rings are found on or at either end of major
prehistoric routes across landscapes and seascapes. On land this is
most evident in the Alps and in the British Isles. Both these areas may
be regarded as barriers and the search for routes through the interior
will have had a funnelling effect. Fine examples are: the Kilmartin
group and the Loch Tay group; the Greenland concentration west of
Glasgow and the Castleton group at either end of the central Scottish
lowlands; the Carschenna group in the north of the Alps and the
Valcamonica group in the south.
To a lesser extent concentrations occur in Galicia and Scandinavia.
These two latter areas may be regarded as the end-concentrations of
sea-routes and this just possibly may imply that the cup-and-ring
tradition started somewhere in the British Isles and diffused in
several directions using the routes entrenched previously by the
peoples who initially introduced the cupule tradition.
Indeed, the overall distribution patterns of cupules point to a
movement towards northern areas, but this does imply not at all that
also cup-and-ring art originated for instance in Galicia. The importance
of the key-area around the Irish Sea as the cradle for the cup
tradition cannot be ruled out.
Although a south-north decline of cupules with multiple rings along the
Atlantic seaboard may be noted (Fig. 183), the main concentration of
cupules with five or more concentric rings is found around the Irish
Sea, whereas the great concentric rings are found in Galicia. This
distribution is contrary to the distribution of cupules. Cupules are
common in southern Europe and the Alps, numerous in the British Isles,
but are found in astonishing large numbers in Scandinavia. This may
have a reason.
In my opinion settlement pressure or disasters may have forced people
out of their homelands and flows of migration originated throughout
prehistoric Europe. I would like to suggest that cupule carving
originated during the initial south-north movement (or perhaps an
eastbound migration from across the Atlantic Ocean ?). One produced
larger numbers of cupules the colder and more hostile the land became.
M. van HOEK: 165 GEOGRAPHY