• (Opphavsrett)
  • Photo: Hedmark Fylkeskommune (Opphavsrett)
  • Photo: Hedmark Fylkeskommune (Opphavsrett)
  • (Opphavsrett)
  • (Opphavsrett)

PREHISTORIC CUP MARKS AT NAVNEBERGET, STANGE

Cup marks are very difficult to date. The potential date range is from the late Stone Age, throughout the Iron Age and possibly into the Medieval Age. The distribution of cup marks further extends along the Atlantic coastline from Ireland to Spain and beyond - as part of a trans-European symbolic system.

 

The simple design of the cup mark has puzzled archeologists for decades. What was their original purpose? Were they sole symbols of communication, or did they also have a practical intent? Theories alter from pictographic star constellations to ritual offering stones and political markers. Considering the long date range, shifts of symbolic content is plausible.  However, an overall connection between the distribution of cup marks and prehistoric pastoral land is eminent. From agricultural areas in southeast Norway and the Swedish west coast, the cup – motif spread into inland Norway during late Bronze Age and early Iron Age. They are found adjacent to the lake Mjøsa and in an east-west going belt-shaped pattern crossing the great valleys and mountain areas of inland Norway.

 

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