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

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FIGURE 20: THE FEARNAN AND ACHARN GROUPS.<br />

facing away from the valley <strong>and</strong> from this follows that from many<br />

clusters it is not even possible to see the valley floor; instead quite<br />

<strong>of</strong>ten only remote upl<strong>and</strong> areas are visible. It would, however, not have<br />

been a problem to create chains <strong>of</strong> intervisible sites all along the hill<br />

slope. This may indicate that these clusters were approached from<br />

below by individual groups, as we have suggested at Edramucky.<br />

But it is also possible that small groups practised agriculture on the<br />

slopes near the rock art sites, as the petroglyphs are <strong>of</strong>ten found at<br />

the edges <strong>of</strong> natural terraces or at spots where the hill slope levels<br />

out for considerable distances. <strong>The</strong> l<strong>and</strong> at this height is rather fertile<br />

<strong>and</strong> has a much better drainage than the <strong>of</strong>ten inundated heavy soils <strong>of</strong><br />

the valley floor. Small isolated communities may therefore have used<br />

M. <strong>van</strong> HOEK: 38<br />

GEOGRAPHY<br />

map

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