
12 July 2006 As the tide was coming in we were thinking we weren’t going to find any cups. But then I started randomly ripping seaweed off rocks & this was about the 3rd one I tried....
12 July 2006 As the tide was coming in we were thinking we weren’t going to find any cups. But then I started randomly ripping seaweed off rocks & this was about the 3rd one I tried....
12 July 2006 The setting of the cups we found – with Juamei for scale
09-07-06 Looking towards the remains of the Broch from the rock art.
09-07-06 More Cups.
09-07-06 The pictish mirror symbol.
09-07-06 Aquatic Rock Art!
Here’s a photo of the stones by Maarten van Hoek, probably taken in the 1980-90s.
Not that easy to find, the carvings are below the tide level on very slippery rocks. There are more cups here, but either they were below the water level or hidden by seaweed, and as my swimming abilities are very similar to those of my camera I decided to settle for the more obvious examples.
I was taken to this site by the wonderful Margaret Curtis following a visit to the nearby Bernera Bridge stones.
We got to the site by using the gate which is just a little way along from the lay-by and then walked down to the small river. There is an ancient and very dodgy weed-covered stone-causeway running across this river. Despite wearing two left wellingtons, Margaret bounded across it without a care. I, in my walking boots, gingerly picked my way across it to the other side whilst all the time telling Margaret that she was barking mad.
The rock art panels are on the shore of the small inlet, just past a fence that extends to the shore. They are covered in seaweed and may take a little finding. There is a ruined broch Dun Barraglom on the small promontary and a couple of ruined buildings.
As well as the cups there is a shallow carving that resembles a Pictish mirror carving’ or a ‘Proto-Pictish carving’ as Margaret calls it.
If you are visiting the Bernera Stones I would suggest that you also have a look at this site. If you are not willing to brave the causeway then you could walk around by the road and cross through the nearby fields (with permission of course).
If possible I would strongly recommend that you take Margaret Curtis with you.
This from CANMORE
On the shore 40m and 50m NNW of Dun Barraglom (NB13SE 5), on sloping rock faces just below high water mark, are two groups of cupmarks. The S group has 37 cups up to 9cm diameter and 2cm deep. The N group has 35 cups up to 9.5cm diameter and 2.5cm deep, also a shallow cupped feature closely resembling a Pictish mirror symbol 27cm long.
M R Ponting and G R Curtis 1987.