96 CUP-MARKINGS. 



examined many of those ancient stone monuments in India 

 which exactly correspond to the Druids' Altars, &c, of 

 Western Europe. 



The first great collection of Indian cup-markings men- 

 tioned is in Kumaon, a district of North India, among 

 the Himalayan Mountains. It is situated on the side of a 

 bridle-path leading to a celebrated shrine at Bidranath. 

 The path passes through a narrow defile, at the mouth of 

 which is the temple sacred to Mahadeo, at a spot where the 

 pilgrims generally halt for a short time. • They occur on a 

 rock forming the natural surface of the slope, rising at an 

 angle of 45° to the height of some 70 feet above the stream. 

 They are not quickly perceived, but on a careful observation 

 the rock is seen to be covered with cup-marks and sculpture. 

 In a space 14 feet by 12, upwards of 200 such marks can be 

 counted. They are of different sizes, varying from 1J inches 

 to 6 inches in diameter, and in depth from ^ inch to 1 inch ; 

 more generally arranged in nearly perpendicular rows, and in 

 groups, which vary both in the number of cups in each line, 

 and in size, e.g. : In the sketch given commencing on the left, 

 there are : 1st, 4 cups in a separate row, then 3 rows of large 

 cups in a group, 9 in one row, 7 in next, and 7 in the 3rd, then 

 a single row of 15 smaller ones, then a group consisting of 

 3 rows of 17, 14 and 15 small cups, and so on. 



Most of the cups are simple (like those on the FAncresse 

 stone), but some few have an incised ring around them ; in 

 one set all the cups have grooves or gutters running from 

 them, and in some cases these grooves form patterns, very 

 similar to the patterns (without cups) figured on the stones 

 of cromlechs at Carnac in the Morbihan. 



These cup-markings have subsequently been found to be 

 fairly scattered throughout India. Several are mentioned on 

 stones forming circles, &c, in the same district. A group, or 

 series of groups some hundreds in number, are figured from 

 Chandeshwar in Central India. From 70 to 75 cup-marks 

 occur on a porphyry stone between Jubbee and Nikkee in the 

 Indus Valley, and nearly always the stones upon which they 

 occur are either in cists or constructions resembling cromlechs, 

 or in stone circles or monoliths, all of which, if found in 

 Western Euroj>e, would have been called Druidical remains, and 

 as the Druidical religion never extended into India, the term 

 Druidical is wrongly applied to these structures in any country, 

 ancient stone monuments being an indisputable name for them. 



Our author then discusses the purpose of these marks, 

 his conclusions are twofold : — 



