Cup marks is probably the world’s most common famous petroglyphs and it’s also Sweden's most common rock carving motif. In Swedish folklore, cup marks are called älvkvarnar (fairy mills) because fairies were believed to grind their grain in the cups. The cup mark motif has been found both in and near graves, with and without other figures. The aim of this thesis was to investigate cup marks which have been found in the vicinity of large cairn graves and ships settings that can both be seen as grave monuments and ritual locations on Gotland and thus contribute to a greater understanding of cup marks. The distribution of the cup marks, its relation to graves and the possible meaning of the cup marks were analysed to gain an understanding of why people chose to engrave the motif in the vicinity of graves. The location of the cup marks premises was analysed to get an overview of where the cup marks occur and what the distribution looks like from today's parish borders. The burials that were examined in relation to cup marks are the two types of tombs that can be classified as monumental on the island, cairns, and stone shipsettings from the Bronze Age. To futher understand the significance of cup marks, interpretations from archaeologists who have previously researched the motif are highlighted.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-479266 |
| Date | January 2022 |
| Creators | Elin, Sammland |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för arkeologi och antik historia |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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