ABSTRACT
There is more than one way of studying rock art, and each affects the scale at which it is viewed. For those who analysed the motifs as if they were portable artefacts, small-scale distribution maps were quite sufficient, as these would be enough to chart the connections between different areas. Those who undertook regional surveys were more concerned with the placing of these sites in relation to other aspects of the local pattern of settlement, including the character of the soils and the siting of prehistoric monuments. In the last chapter much of the discussion was conducted at still more detailed level and concerned itself with the immediate setting of individual rock carvings. If we are to understand the importance of rock art in the prehistoric landscape, our approach will have to be flexible, and the scale of analysis must be sensitive to the kinds of questions being asked. This chapter involves a progressive sharpening of focus from patterns which can be recognised on a regional scale to small-scale studies of the character of individual landscapes.
