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

FIG.42: SANTA TECLA, CASTRO.
instance for the rock art at Santa
Tecla, near A Guardia, south of
Barcelos (Fig. 50), which is situated on
a steep hill slope and amidst a very well
preserved Iron Age “Castro” (Fig. 42).
The sites all face inland across the
tidal flats of the Rio Miño and the
Portuguese hills, whereas extensive
outcrop areas near the top would offer
far more extensive views in all
directions, including fine vistas of the
Atlantic Ocean.
Another major petroglyph outcrop rock,
the Pedra Moura at Fragoselo, near
Coruxo (Fig. 130), is located in an
exceptionally sheltered position with
very limited views extending only across
a small valley stretching inland, whereas
only some 100 m further east suitable
outcrops offer panoramic vistas across
the whole of the Vigo area, the Ria de
It looks as if this has been done
on purpose as the hill slopes near
Barcelos feature extensive areas
with many suitable outcrop
surfaces, from sea level up to
the highest points, often with
better views. But all these rocks
have been ignored. Especially on
the southern slopes of a hillock
called A Pedra Rubia, are
extremely large and smooth
outcrops. It is, however, on a
large rough boulder on the north
end of the hill that I discovered
a strange combination of six
simple cupules in a rosette
formation next to a simple spiral
(Fig. 40; inset). The view from
this site is mainly directed to
the NW and overlooks the
Atlantic Ocean.
There are more examples in
Galicia with “unexpected”
(limited) views. This applies for
FIG. 43: MONTE TETON.
M. van HOEK: 63 GEOGRAPHY