Fig. 147.—Types of cup sculptures.
First type. Single cups.—They are the simplest type of these ancient stone-cuttings. Their diameter varies from 1 inch to 3 inches and more, while they are often only half an inch deep, but rarely deeper than an inch or an inch and a half. They commonly appear in different sizes on the same stone or rock, and although they sometimes form the only sculptures on a surface they are more frequently associated with figures of a different character. They are in general scattered without order over the surface, but occasionally four or five or more of them are placed in more or less regular groups, exhibiting a constellation-like arrangement.
Second type. Cups surrounded by a single ring.—The incised rings are usually much shallower than the cups and mostly surround cups of comparatively large size. The ring is either complete or broken, and in the latter case it is often traversed by a radial groove which runs from the central cup through and even beyond the ring.
Third type. Cups surrounded by a series of concentric complete rings.—In this complete annular form the central cup is generally more deeply cut than the surrounding rings, but not always.
Fourth type. Cups surrounded by a series of concentric, but incomplete rings having a straight radial groove.—This type constitutes perhaps the most common form of the circular carvings. The rings generally touch the radial line at both extremities, but sometimes they terminate on each side of it without touching it. The radial groove occasionally extends considerably beyond the outer circle, and in most cases it runs in a more or less downward direction on the stone or rock. Sometimes it runs on and unites into a common line with other ducts or grooves coming from other circles, till thus several series of concentric rings are conjoined into a larger or smaller cluster, united together by the extension of their radial branch-like grooves.
Fifth type. Cups surrounded by concentric rings and flexed lines.—The number of inclosing or concentric rings is generally fewer in this type than in the two last preceding types, and seldom exceeds two or three in number.
Sixth type. Concentric rings without a central cup.—In many cases the concentric rings of the types already described appear without a central cup or depression, which is most frequently wanting in the complete concentric circles of the third type.