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

animals, probably because of lack of space between motifs 5 and 6.
Another argument in favour of an earlier date for the cup-and-rings is
the fact that motifs 2, 3 and 4 are almost weathered off and are
almost invisible. Therefore, I agree with Bradley (1997: 46) that the
association of the animals with the circular motifs at the Laxe dos
Cebros must have been intended, but I refute the idea that there is no
question of superimposition.
What exactly is now the actual chronological position of the Galician
animals ? Anati once suggested (1968: 124) that animal engravings in
Galicia preceded the circular motifs. Bradley (1997: 191) however,
argues that both art styles are contemporary. And there are studies
(Costas & Novoa 1993: 245) claiming that the Galician cup-and-rings are
much older than the animal carvings. As none of all suggested
possibilities is consistently reflected in the rock art of Galicia, I think
that the true story is more complex.
� DISTRIBUTION OF GALICIAN ANIMALS �
First of all it must be noted that the spread of animal engravings in
Galicia is not congruent to that of cup-and-ring art. Unfortunately, the
distribution maps of animal engravings provided by Peña ( 1992: 40) and
Bradley (1997: 164) are not really helpful, as important rock art sites
like Cova da Bruxa, Poio, Baiona and Rianxo are lacking on those maps.
Therefore a new map with updated information has been made (Fig.
158). It proves that animal engravings mainly concentrate in the north
of the Galician rock art region, whereas the south part mainly features
some widely scattered panels with only one or two examples each.
Therefore, it cannot be held that the animal manufacturers
deliberately looked for cup-and-ring sites to engrave their animals
upon. There are many cup-and-ring sites where animals are lacking, and
vice versa. Indeed, according to the database used by Vázquez (1997:
192) there are 1006 engraved rocks in Galicia of which 124 (12.5 %)
bear engravings of deer. Significantly, only 62 rocks feature a
combination of deer and circular motifs. The question is now whether it
is justified to claim such a low percentage (5 %) of these combinations
to represent contemporaneity.
Remarkably, Vázquez also suggests (1997: 45) that before the
engravings were executed one scratched the outline of the required
motif onto the rock “to guide the chisel”, especially at the more
complex motifs, like the majority of the animal designs. However, if
the lay-out of the whole design would indeed be premeditated, one
would expect to find many more similarly arranged and better
organised combinations of animals and circular engravings.
M. van HOEK: 199
GEOGRAPHY