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Cup And Ring MarkCup and ring marks or cup marks are a form of prehistoric art found in the upland parts British Isles. They consist of a concave depression, no more than a few centimetres across, cut into a rock surface and surrounded by concentric circles also etched into the stone. The decoration occurs as a petroglyph on natural boulders and outcrops and also as an element of megalithic art on purposefully worked megaliths such as the slab cists of the Food Vessel culture, some stone circles and passage graves such as the clava tombs and on the capstones at Newgrange. Similar patterns are known in north western Spain. Precisely dating megalithic art is difficult as even if the megalithic monument can be dated, the art may be a later addition. Work at Drumirril in County Monaghan has uncovered Neolithic and early Bronze Age occupation evidence around the rock carvings there and this dating is generally accepted for most of the art. The Hunterheugh Crags cup and ring marks near Alnwick in Northumberland have recently been demonstrated to date back into the Early Neolithic through their stratigraphic relationship with other, datable features. Where they are etched onto natural, flat stone it has been observed that they seem to incorporate the natural surface of the stone. Those at Hunterheugh are mostly connected to one another by specially cut grooves that channel rainwater from one to the next, down the sloping top of the stone. It has been suggested by the archaeologist Clive Waddington that the initial Early Neolithic impetus to create the marks was forgotten and that the practice fell into abeyance until a second phase of creation continued the basic tradition but with less precision and more variability in design. The markers of this second phase moved the art from natural stones to megaliths as its symbolism was reinterpreted by Later Neolithic and Early Bronze Age people. Their purpose is unknown although some may be connected with natural stone outcrops exploited by Neolithic peoples to make polished stone axes. Other examples of sites with cup and ring marks include : *Street House cairn in Cleveland
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