The 5 stones facing North...ish.
Image credit: Chris Lodge
Sites in Ri Cruin & the Great X of Kilmartin
Images
Packing and other stones around the central megalith.
Image credit: Chris Lodge
All 5 stones with 5 year old antiquarians inspecting.
Image credit: Chris Lodge
The lichen covered top of the tallest stone.
Image credit: Chris Lodge
Up close with the cupmarks.
Image credit: Chris Lodge
August 1998
August 1998
Image credit: Norie.
Ri Cruin in the woods.
Image credit: Norie.
Image credit: Norie.
Image credit: Norie.
Articles
Fantastic. The whole Kilmartin Valley is such a fantastic place. It rained, rained and rained again. But despite this I had a great day (soaked to the skin) and I can’t rate this place highly enough. I hope to visit again when (hopefully) the weather will be better! Stayed all day but only managed to see some of the sites as there are so many. The Great X is just one of the wonderful things to see. If you are anywhere near this part of Scotland, allow at least a day of your holidays to enjot this very special place. So far, my favourite place in Scotland. For me this is on par with Avebury in England. Fantastic.
We visited this site in Feb. 2000. We just wandered around this valley floor all day – you need loads of time for all the jewels that the people left us here. The great X is one of them. We wandered and wondered round this unique monument.
The overall alignment of this whole monument is approximately the same as the cairn cemetry, the valley and the river. I cant say any more – it’s like much of this valley – a beautiful mystery.
If there were ritual processions north up this glen – which seems almost certain – this seems to be the place where eveything starts to get ‘focused down’ a bit, as the valley floor starts to narrow approaching the linear cemetery of cairns. However, the ‘X’ is aligned roughly NE-SW, and doesn’t line up with the cairns as you might expect.
Video of a visit to the Great X of Kilmartin, with cup holes clearly visible on the central stone.