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

* 2.2.1.2 CONCLUSIONS *
It is clear from this chapter that possible “re-sanctification” of
quarried rock art sites is most controversial and moreover very hard to
prove. There are thousands of instances of open-air rock art in the
British Isles; yet only three instances possibly involve prehistoric
quarrying. Of these three, only one, the North Plantation site, just
possibly may have been “re-sanctified” after prehistoric quarrying took
place, and even that is most doubtful. In neither case solid evidence
has been brought forward.
Even when parts were quarried on purpose, it remains doubtful whether
the added art represents instances of “re-sanctification”. As we have
seen, this is a matter of chronology, but also of terminology. The redecoration
could have taken place immediately after the piece was
removed, in which case there is no question of “re-sanctification”.
Alternatively, the new motifs could have been executed a long period
after the piece was removed, but still within the same cultural frame,
and then this just possibly could be interpreted as a sort of “resanctification”.
But I have previously remarked that it has been a
normal practice to add new cup-and-rings to existing sites over very
long periods of time. And all these additions actually are instances of
“re-sanctification”.
It is also more logical to suppose that any assumed practice to quarry
decorated outcrops most likely was carried out by a people completely
different to the manufacturers of the petroglyphs, as these rock art
symbols must have had an enormous religious and social value for the
society that created them. Therefore prehistoric quarrying of cup-andring
sites never became a common practice: even hundreds of years
after the decline of this specific rock art tradition, the still enigmatic
symbols will have been respected. Ultimately the ancient symbols lost
their value and consequently some decorated rocks were quarried,
occasionally during the Bronze Age (e.g. some Kilmartin menhirs) and
Iron Ages, and, regrettably, on a bigger scale in historical times.
It also is highly unlikely that Iron Age peoples would “re-sanctify” a
site like Greenland with symbols so typical for the Neolithic rock art
tradition. Why did they not apply symbols of their own culture ? This
has been done at other sites in Europe where Bronze Age symbols are
joined to Neolithic cup-and-rings. Among these instances are several
cup-and-rings that seem to have been “re-sanctified” by different
cultures. In the following chapters three special categories of possible
“re-sanctification” in Europe will be discussed; the association of boats
with cup-and-rings, the enigmatic “disc-men” of Bohuslän, Sweden, and
the animal-cup-and-rings, mainly occurring in Galicia, Spain.
But first you may care to go to the next Chapter discussing the
possible “liaison” between the boat engravings of Scandinavia and cupand-ring
motifs.
M. van HOEK: 180
GEOGRAPHY