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

ather rough part of sinter at the entrance of the cave, only two
metres from the sea and just two metres above the high water mark,
not at all a spot characteristic for cup-and-ring art. As no single
cupules occur anywhere in this area, these examples are not being
regarded as belonging to the tradition described here.
Paturi compares the cupules and rings of Carschenna with those on the
stele of Ossimo 1 in the Valcamonica in the Alpine region of northern
Italy, but on this stele also a completely different range and style of
engravings is found, much more elaborate and without any true cupules.
Although there are cupmarked rocks in the Valcamonica and even at
least four cup-and-ring sites, the Ossimo stele is too different in style
to belong to the cup-and-ring art tradition. Likewise true cupules
surrounded by perfectly circular incised rings in the Valcamonica (such
as the ones at Luine and Bedolina) can not be considered as belonging
to the cup-and-ring tradition.
Another interesting case occurs in the province of Huelva in SW Spain.
There is no open air rock art of the cup-and-ring tradition in the whole
of Andalucia, but at least three megalithic tombs have been decorated
with petroglyphs. The one near Niebla, the Dolmen de Soto or Cueva
del Zancarron, is most interesting for having a keyhole cup-and-tworings
(diameter 10 cm) carved on the middle part of one of the
orthostats in the chamber. Its central cupule is small, though distinct.
It is said that these granite slabs have been brought from a spot some
30 kilometres away, as there is no granite found locally.
What some authors ignore to report, is that there are at least four
slabs bearing cupules at the Dolmen de Soto. One is an orthostat
opposite the cup-and-ring stone and it features a large number of
randomly placed cupules, some even below ground level. More
importantly, one of the lintels near the chamber bears a small number
of much weathered cupules, some placed in such manner in the corner
that it is impossible that these cupules were carved in situ. Most, if
not all the cupules clearly have been executed before the construction
of the tomb and have been regarded of minor importance in view of
their hidden position. The unweathered cup-and-ring, on contrary, has
been centrally placed on the orthostat and more likely has been
executed after the tomb was built. The execution of this isolated cupand-ring
was not based on the cup-and-ring tradition, but may be
related to the many other differing motifs in the tomb, which also
include single rings without cupules.
It can safely be concluded that the circle with enclosing dot proves to
be a universal design throughout the times, appearing in many different
contexts and places. The cup-and-ring art of Atlantic and Alpine
Europe, however, belongs to a Neolithic rock art tradition. It conveys
specific messages to and from elements or persons or deities present
in the landscape as the art is mainly found in an open air context.
M. van HOEK: 90
GEOGRAPHY