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

Further west in Glenlochay, rock art is strikingly absent. More
importantly, the Duncroisk group is concentrated at a point in the
valley where it became clear that the route only would lead further
west, and this may indicate that, in my opinion, prehistoric migration
initially was directed to the east (compare Bute).
Simultaneously the major rock art group is located at a spot where a
pass through the mountains leads to the NE, towards Glen Lyon. The
site at Corrycharmaig overlooks this pass to the north, and two sites
near Tullich and a standing stone further north indicate the route.
Exactly where this route ends we find the only cupmarked stone in Glen
Lyon, at Camusvrachan, on a south facing slope, overlooking the same
pass to the south. This hardly can be coincidence.
* 1.2.2.1.2 Further east we find the another instance of altered
distribution patterns. At Duncroisk complex art was still located on
lower level, like the art in the Kilmartin area, but further east on Loch
Tay we see that simple art is mainly
found on lower levels, whereas
complex art is increasingly found
high up the hill slope, in fact also
representing a kind of divergence.
This pattern is well illustrated at
Edramucky (Fig. 16) where a small
delta may have attracted prehistoric
people as a convenient landing place.
Here a line of twelve decorated
rocks runs uphill, roughly parallel to
two streams (Fig. 18). Cupmarked
rocks, however, are found at lower
level, whereas cups with rings only
appear on higher ground. The most
complex motifs are moreover located
at the top end of the line at roughly
250 m above the lake.
The distinct linear distribution
against the gradient and the lack of
rock art east and west of the group
along the contours may indicate that
long distance movement did not took
place along the contours but on the
lake. But people deliberately must
have climbed the rather steep hill
FIGURE 18: EDRAMUCKY.
slope to execute their symbols. They
must have had a good reason for such a strenuous trip and most likely
this distribution is an expression of the desire to find convenient
places for their rituals. Possibly the stiff climb was part of the ritual.
M. van HOEK: 36
GEOGRAPHY