Archaic Sclili'tluings. 125 



Antiquaries of Scotland.^ It is sliangc liial in Duiiilrics 

 none seem to ha\c been recorded, and also tlial in the Rliins 

 of Cialloway — that is, from Kirkmaiden to Leswalt — they are 

 apparently absent. In the tlat district between Luce Bay 

 and Loch Ryan the absence of rock surfaces may a.ccount 

 for none of the sculpturing"s having' been discovered there. 



I p.\ estimators have not yet succeeded in formulating a 

 hvpotiiesis as to the purpose and meaning" of the sculpturings 

 wliich is in any sense feasible or satisfying". The conjectures 

 lia\e been quite unsupported by e\ idence. Mere guesses are 

 that the sculpturings stood as maps of the territory of the 

 tribe to which the sculptors belonged, that they are charts 

 of the houses of the pre-historic \ illage with its pathways, 

 that they are genealogical trees, that they are a kind of 

 writing", and that over the sculptured surface was poured 

 sacrificial blood, which in its mcanderings when carefully 

 scrutinised ga\e rise to suggestions as to dixination. The 

 latest guess, suggested by the discovery of miniature houses 

 placed with the dead in the ancient tombs in Central Europe 

 and of Eg'ypt, is that the sculpturings represent the houses 

 of the souls of the dead. To fortify these suggestions 

 scarcely a vestige of evidence has been brought forward. It 

 has been supposed by several students that the carvings have 

 some magical significance, or that they were related in some 

 manner to the worship of the sun or to a main source of 

 power. The last hypothesis has almost the aspect of sound- 

 ness, and I believe it narrowly approaches the truth. But 

 where, again, is the evidence? The evidence, if it is avail- 

 able and exists, must be almost solely contained within the 

 sculpturing"s themselves. It is therefore necessary that a 

 thorough analysis of the disposition and character of the 

 designs should be carried out. 



Some years ago, with this object, I began to make an 

 examination of many dozens of groups of these markings, 

 aiul niuch to my astonishment I found that, instead of the 

 markings being all higgledy-pigglety, they were arranged 



5 P.S.A.S., 189o, vol. xxix., pp. 67-91. Several new traciiijis 

 are given in the Beports of the Foyol Com. on Anc Mon., ScnfJniul. 



