petroglyphen im valle del encanto - StoneWatch

her the multiple cup-and-rings featuring many radial grooves,
often creating a (solar ?) wheel-like impression, are later, or
those radials are later additions. Indeed, there are instances
where the secondary character of radial grooves is evident. For
instance, subsequent radials are often carved superficially
across the rings without touching the deepest points (Photo 6).
Photo 6. Detail of two twinned multiple rings on the sandstone outcrop
ridge at Buttony 4, Northumberland, England, now overgrown. Notice
the original radial grooves running down slope and the more superficially
engraved radials, two in the left figure and one faint one in the
right figure. Diameter of the bigger device to the right is 52 cm.
A variant of the radial groove is the so-called keyhole pattern
(Photo 7). As this motif is not represented in passage grave art
as well, it is also ascribed to the Late Neolithic. I know only of
one keyhole motif within a tomb, the Dolmen de Soto, SW
Spain, where an unweathered keyhole occurs as a single motif
at the centre of an orthostat. It contrasts strongly with much
worn cupules elsewhere in the tomb, some carved at almost
inaccessible places. The burial mound dates around 2.000 BC,
confirming a later date for the keyhole.
Photo 7. Detail of a perfect keyhole design on the smooth greywacke
outcrop at Townhead 3D, Galloway, southern Scotland. Notice that the
central cupule actually consists of a natural depression, a feature relatively
common in Galloway and Eastern Ireland. Diameter of the outer
ring is 35 cm.
Another argument for a later appearance is the phenomenon of
the degraded keyhole. It proves that notably many keyhole
motifs in fact consist of earlier cup-and-rings, where two or
more parallel grooves have been added to form a keyhole pattern,
in some cases rather clumsily. Classical examples are
found at the outcrop at Boheh, a solitary site at the west coast of
Ireland where a mixture of at least 24 true and degraded keyholes
is found, depicting a sort of evolution of the keyhole pattern.
Also at Carschenna, Switzerland, some radial grooves and deg-
10
raded keyholes are found. The best example (Photo 8) is found
at Rock II. From an extremely small central cupule, surrounded
by three concentric rings, runs a fainter radial groove. Almost
touching the outer ring is a pair of crudely carved, parallel grooves
that have been added to the motif to form a degraded keyhole
figure.
Photo 8.
Detail of the degraded keyhole on the sandstone outcrop escarpment at
Carschenna II, Graubünden, Switzerland. Notice the difference in groove
dimensions between the ringmarks, the faint radial groove and the bold
keyhole grooves. Such bold grooves are a distinctly later feature at a number
of the rocks at Carschenna. Diameter of the outer ring is 16 cm.
Recently Jorge Díaz Sánchez claimed that the cup-and-ring with
radial groove possibly depicted the legendary city of Atlantis,
but I rather suggest that it is a symbol with a magical meaning,
related to the belief in after death in a changing cultural context.
After the period of the impressive communal passage tombs a
more individual conception of life was introduced, which was
possibly reflected as well by the introduction of the radial groove
breaking through the circle, simultaneously breaking down
its old magic. In Africa there are petroforms, resembling the cup
and ring with radial groove and there it means that an individual
had „gone home“. Most likely also the radial groove in cupand-ring
art symbolized a spiritual path of the individual into the
supernatural world.