From Bryn Glover
Your news item on Late Stone Age rock etchings (5 December 2015, p 17) called to mind the “cup-and-ring” stone markings which are common here in the north of England and elsewhere. These are typically a circular groove 60 to 100 millimetres in diameter, with a small break where the groove has not been cut. They can appear singly on stones in isolation, or in groups.
My personal theory is that they are Neolithic “street maps”. Could they have been carved to be placed near the tracks into settlements, with each cup-and-ring mark representing a typical hut of the era, and its entrance?
If the Barcelona finds date from 13,800 years ago, they will just predate any such UK carvings, as these can only have followed the retreat of the ice sheet.
Kirkby Malzeard, North Yorkshire, UK
