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

major route through the interior, as there is no rock art site which is
found further away than two kilometres from the valley edges.
Yet there are differences in the distribution of rock art, especially
around the Loch Tay area. The most striking difference is that
patterns of divergence emerge east of a certain point on the route.
Although the drainage area of the river Tay further east and outside
the study area has more than a hundred rock art sites, there are only
very few sites actually lining the lower reaches of the river Tay; the
rest is found widely scattered across relatively fertile and low-lying
countryside and shows no distinct relation to features in the landscape.
* 1.2.2.1 CHANGING PATTERNS *
In the study area, however, rock art is strictly confined to a limited
area on both sides of the valleys involved. In the extreme west part of
the study area patterns of convergence are still present, although on a
most modest scale. In this westerly area namely, the route to Loch Tay
is joined by two other major routes from the south and each
crossroads features a minor group of simple rock art, notably at
Crianlarich and Mid Lix (Fig. 16).
* 1.2.2.1.1 But further east there is a first attempt to diverge
from the main route. From Killin (Fig. 16) a line of simple rock art sites
enters the valley of the
river Lochay. In this valley
two distribution patterns
emerge intermingled. Rock
art is still marking a main
axis of movement, but at the
same time we see that minor
concentrations are found
running uphill for a short
distance, often near minor
streams, but without
reaching the highest ground
(compare with Bute).
The major concentration,
however, is found at
Duncroisk on a relatively
large floodplain. All sites
FIGURE 17: DUNCROISK.
again are located near
streams and one decorated
rock is even situated on an outcrop projecting into the river Lochay
(marking a crossing place ?). It is significant that the major group and
the most complex art is concentrated on the valley floor, whereas
simple art is found on the higher ground (the number of cup-and-rings
between (), preceded by numbers of single cupules in Fig. 17).
M. van HOEK: 35
GEOGRAPHY