Cup-Marked Stones ...

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Photo 1. Photo 2.
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Photo 3. Photo 4.


Photo 1. Cup-marked stone in Tumala, Saaremaa. Photo by E. Väljal 1984.
Photo 2. Cup-marked stone in Jõelähtme, Harju county. Photo by E. Väljal 1982.
Photo 3. The stone «Assaku nõiakivi» or Assaku Witch Stone with 405 cup-marks. Photo by E. Väljal 1980.
Photo 4. The cup-marked stone of Sepa at Parasmäe (Jõelähtme parish). Most of the cup-marks are on the vertical side. Photo by E. Väljal 1984.


Figure 1. The cup-marked stone accidentally found from a stove dating to the Viking Age. Aindu settlement, Viljandi parish, Viljandi county (Valk 1993).
Figure 2.The distribution of cup-marked stones in Estonia.
Figure 3. The distribution of cup-marked stones in Finland and the Isthmus of Karelia. The map shows also the northern boundary of the so-called «bread grain zone» in Finland (Solantie 1988).
Figure 4. The distribution of cup-marked stones in Latvia.
Figure 5. The cup-marked stone at Nabala, Jüri parish, Harju county (Harju county 2387). The stone has at least 107 cup-marks, some of them on the vertical side-face of it.
Figure 6. The distribution of stones with over a hundred cup-marks in Estonia.
Figure 7. The cup-marked stone with 53 cup-marks and a cross in the village of Sooaluse, Rakvere parish, Viru county.
Figure 8. The distribution of stones with oval cup-marks in Estonia.
Figure 9. Stone with oval cup-marks in Vana-Kaiu village, Juuru parish, Harju county.
Figure 10. The distribution of channel-linked cup-marks in Estonia.
Figure 11. The cup-marked stone with channels and a bow-shaped carving in the village of Valasti, Järva-Jaani parish, Järva county.
Figure 12. The cup-marked stone with quadrangular and rounded marks in the village of Viru, Rõuge parish, Võru county.
Figure 13. «Lauritsakivi» or the St. Lawrence Stone at Kuusalu, Harju county, with a medieval landmark.
Figure 14. The cup-marked stone that has been used for healing practices in the village of Lehtse, Ambla parish, Järva county.
Figure 15. The cup-marked stone with a carved cross and letters in the village of Annikvere, Põltsamaa parish, Viljandi county.
Figure 16. The cup-marked stone with carved lines in Pärnu village, Viru-Nigula parish, Viru county (after Elstrok & Tamla 1987).
Figure 17. The cup-marked stone in the village of Vasara, Viljandi parish, Viljandi county. Used also as an offering stone.
Figure 18. The distribution of Bronze Age and Early Iron Age archaeological monuments in Estonia (after Vello Lõugas, complemented by the author).
Figure 19. Supposed images of the sun on Scandinavian rock carvings.
Figure 20. The cup-mark as signifying the female genitals on scandinavian rock carvings.