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

� CHAPTER 3 �
GENERAL CONCLUSIONS
- 3.1 INTRODUCTION -
Having seen so many examples of European cup-and-rings, it is easy to
forget that the cup-and-ring motif actually is a global phenomenon.
However, as explained while discussing the SCANDINAVIAN situation,
there is, in my opinion, a big difference between a motif and a symbol.
It proves that in many prehistoric cultures the cup-and-ring often
occurs as a motif (with probably a symbolic meaning as well), often
being solely a modest element within a wide range of rock art signs.
* 3.1.1 CHILE *
In Chile for instance, there are thousands of petroglyphs of the
abstract and iconic style. The cup-and-ring motif, however, is very
rare. Typical cupuled rocks do occur quite often in the Andes and its
foothills, but there never emerged a cup-and-ring tradition like in
Europe, and if cup-and-ring motifs appear on Chilean rocks, they
certainly have a meaning different to the European examples. Fine
examples are found for instance at Azapa (Fig. 178.A), Illapel, and
FIGURE 178: CHILE: A. AZAPA. B. ILLAPEL, C. TARAPACÁ 47.
Tarapacá 47 (Fig. 178.C). At Illapel several rocks, at altitudes of 1200
to 1700 m, feature cup-and-rings intermingled with abstract and iconic
figures. Some of the latter even include anthropomorphic figures (Fig.
178.B) much resembling the SCANDINAVIAN “disc-men”.
Also at the important petroglyph concentration near La Silla
Observatory (Niemeyer & Ballereau 1996), with more than 500 blocks
of stone with numerous petroglyphs, some cup-and-rings occur. Both
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GEOGRAPHY