Den mystiske og anvendelige skålgropa – skålgroper i Rogaland knyttet til ferdsel, knutepunkter og kultsteder i landskapet

Abstract

Approximately 110 rock art sites and more than 100 decorated slabs/stones are known from Rogaland County, southwestern Norway. This article looks at cupmarks and their relationship to travelling routes and nodal points along the coast, waterways, and inland pathways, with a focus on dating, context and placement within the wider landscape. The primary group is located in the maritime zone and along fjord systems. These sites are related to known Bronze Age and Iron Age sailing routes, probably related to interregional exchange networks. The second group, along inland pathways, dates to the Iron Age and comprises two distributions. The northernmost group is related to summer farms and constitutes the southern fringe of a larger body of cupmark sites related to sub-alpine regions in Sogn and Hardanger. The southernmost group is found within the Dalane anorthosite and heathland and is associated with nodal points and along pathways leading to ritual places of worship.