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Cup and Ring Marks / Rock Art
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You can park up in the passing place if you turn right just before the Cairnbaan Hotel - the stones are well signposted.
Cairnbaan was the first of many places that impressed upon me how well the various authorities have done in preserving and presenting the numerous monuments here in the Kilmartin Glen. The first group of rock carvings you come to here are, like most major groups, fenced off. But the fencing is pretty inoffensive - no spikes, and subtle dark green in colour. On top of that, it's not there to keep you out. There are small metal steps there for you to get inside and see the carvings up-close. The thing is, once you're inside, the fence - and the fact that the ground in the enclosure is well tended and not covered in sheep shit - creates a palpable sense of this being a 'special place'. So, hopefully, people are gently dissuaded from stupid shit like leaving litter or damaging the rocks.
If people really want to vandalise, there's not a lot you can do. This idea, of the enclosing fence that doesn't exclude, is the best compromise between preservation and access I've seen - and almost made me think that a concept of 'sacred space' was being inadvertently rediscovered...
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Posted by gyrus
27th August 2000ce
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