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

Illapel and La Silla belong to the
so-called El Molle culture of the
Indian tribe that dwelled the
Andean foothills.
This specific Indian tribe
populated Norte Chico from 300
BC to AD 700. They probably
consisted of small mobile groups
of agriculturists and pastoralists
that followed the ancient paths of
the earlier hunters-gatherers.
These earlier tribes notably
practised a form of transhumance.
In the spring they moved from the
coast towards the high ground of
the Andes and most probably the
river-gorges in the lower foothills
were important stopping places on
their way up and down the
mountains. For several reasons
(grinding food or mixing colours)
these hunters-gatherers probably
FIG. 179: EL ENCANTO, CHILE
also made the first typical basin
stones, called “Piedras Tacitas”, and this practice probably has been
continued by the El Molle culture, who enhanced some of the stopping
places in river-gorges with elaborate petroglyphs. It proves that also
in Chile rock art distribution is closely associated with migration
patterns of mobile peoples.
One of the best known petroglyphic river-gorge sites in Chile is El
Valle de El Encanto with more than 150 blocks of granite with numerous
engravings of geometric and iconic figures, some paintings, a few
cupuled rocks and many of the typical basin-stones.
Surprisingly, only one cup-and-ring motif is found in this beautiful
place in the semi-desert. A large block of stone amidst a collapsed (?)
waterfall bears a few worn cupules and some geometric designs, one
(Fig. 179) resembling the keyhole figure from Carschenna (Fig. 71). It
proves that parallel evolution of a rock art motif elsewhere in the
world is always possible. The keyhole design from El Encanto occurs
also at many other sites in Norte Chico, such as at the nearby site of
El Valle de Sol (Van Hoek 2000d, forthcoming), La Silla (Niemeyer &
Ballereau 1996, Fig. 17E) and at Illapel (Ballereau & Niemeyer 1996,
Fig. 16C and 18F). These keyhole-designs have tentatively been
interpreted as symbols of feminine fertility (Ballereau & Niemeyer
1996, 348).
M. van HOEK: 219
GEOGRAPHY