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

inaccessible group of human factors are the factors that are
determined by the natural (and later cultural) landscape.
It proves that the siting of rock art is the result of many possible
factors: there is not just one single “rule” that determines the location
of cup-and-ring art. Each individual rock art site notably represents a
chronologically and culturally “layered” complex of rationales for its
selection and for its selection of symbols and their placement on the
rock surface. Ouzman (1997) rightly reminds us that any archaeological
landscape is “a rich tapestry into which the threads of numerous
people’s beliefs, practices and objects are woven”.
It will be no surprise that especially for cup-and-ring art this
“layered” complex is most difficult to access, as only the siting in the
landscape and the archaeological context (which is often lacking
completely) of a rock art site may present some points of departure to
explain the distribution patterns of cup-and-ring art across Europe.
Still, some useful observations can be made.
* 3.2.1 SECURITY AND TRAVELLING *
Prehistoric people no doubt will have realised that the accessibility of
the indented type of coastline hardly would change and therefore would
continue to offer easily accessible and safe harbouring places for many
years to come. During all travels accessible and recognisable places
must have been much appreciated in prehistoric times. Recognition of
places in the landscape, like a pass through the mountains, enhances
the feeling of security during travelling and, ultimately and hopefully,
will lead to safe arrival. Deeply executed cupules (meant to last and to
be recognised for many years to come as well) and later cup-and-rings
may likewise have guided the traveller on his journey or may have
assured the group that the ultimate destination was reached. This may
explain the accumulation of petroglyphs at either end of a route.
Cup-and-ring art may therefore also have been used as a signalling
device, fundamental to an understanding of the nature of travelling and
migrating on macro-level, but also of the organisation of space on
regional and local level and is therefore best studied by applying an
hierarchical approach of landscape archaeology, allowing several levels
or layers to exist.
On macro-level, European cup-and-ring art seems to be closely related
to routes across extensive seascapes and landscapes, but on micro-level
the art is related (often simultaneously) to a great extent to special
places in the wider geographical landscape (Bradley 1997; Van Hoek
1997). These two levels cannot be treated separately and together
they determine the siting of rock art.
Added to this, we noticed the chronologically “layered” character of
cup-and-ring art. In my opinion, the initial explorations of new land
covered a much wider area and on these occasions only cupules were
M. van HOEK: 226
GEOGRAPHY