The rock art is a new find from a couple of weeks ago The stone setting , possibly remains of a hut circle or ring cairn , would have been noted by whoever cleared the heather from either side of the new track allowing access to the new Denny -Beauly super pylons . A good practice not always followed elsewhere .
tiompan
Recent excavation has discovered that what was originally considered to have been a hut circle or roundhouse is at least a ring cairn , but a gap in the bank/platform is the right size and orientation for a recumbent , complete with sockets either side of the gap suggestive of a setting for flankers .
One of three previously unrecorded marked rocks found yesterday . Light not ideal but you get a rough idea.I’m sure that the stone is not in situ and has been dumped here , probably from a fairly recent development at the bottom of the hill .
Three previously unrecorded panels found yesterday ,all under heather . I’ve included a “before” pic of the largest , prior to heather removal .
A hut circle and two of the previously recorded marked rocks around the loch .
A new find from a few days ago bringing the total of marked rocks on this terrace above the River Garry to eight .Views are towards Ben Vrackie , Beinn a Ghlo and Beinn Dearg .
canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/43388/details/sheep+hill/
Possibly a bit late period wise for inclusion here , but the site was close to some major cup and ring markings which were removed in connection with the quarry in the pic . The same fate looks likely for the hillfort .
I wouldn’t normally put up some pics of a possible round house but this one is in such good nick and only three hundred metres from the site of two stone circles and has previously gone un-noticed /recorded .
A previously unrecorded rock found last week .
Midway (just over a mile to either ) between the Pictish stones at Aberlemno and Blackgate standing stones .
Suposedly the remains of a stone circle .
Mmmm .
canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/4300/details/lewis+laxdale+priest+s+glen/
Very Accessible from the nearby road .
Stone setting seems more appropriate than stone circle .
tp://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/4303/details/lewis+benside+newmarket/
This marked rock was originally discovered in March but the light was poor and the pics had little detail . A clear cold day with low sun yesterday provided better conditions for pics .
Found a couple of days ago ,the rock bears at least 40 cup marks .There’s a group of eight cairns ,almost certainly not clearance , on the same terrace 60 metres to the west .
Fortunately the weather was very clear yesterday , otherwise this unrecorded marked rock may have gone unnoticed . The cups are very small ( not far from here small cups found at themodernantiquarian.com/site/1274/east_tempar.html ) and there are at least four connecting cups or dumbbells as well as the arrow shaped groove (see close up ) .Hill in the background is Schiehallion .
A recent excavation at Waulkmill produced quite a variety of finds from Neolithic to Iron Age .
Pics are of ,a ring cairn probably central to the original stone circle . Bronze Age decorated pottery (in finds tray ) .There was also a sherd of Neolithic carinated bowl . Cremated bone just outside the area of the stone circle . The reason for the standing stone pic ,from the same spot as Drewbhoys is that this one shows some of the packing i.e. a tyre . The stone had been moved from it’s previous site , which was unlikely to have the original site either .
A couple of previously unrecorded finds from today . One with 8 cups the other with over 30 plus rings , there is also a cross . The stone is midway between the church at Lawers and a possible early one Balnahanaide . This is the first cross insigned of all the Ben Lawers marked rocks .Pic 2 is almost a “before ” but some mud and rabbit shit had been rmoved from a couple of cups .3rd from last is also a “before” for the second rock .
There were some marked rocks found in the area in the late 60’s I found some more a few years ago.Two more previously unrecorded ones today , one quite photogenic .
I came across this site a couple of days ago 320 M od above Loch Tay 5-600 metres from various marked rocks . about 7-8 metres across ,banks are 2- 2.5m high ,entrance at the south 0.8 m immediatley above what is now a very damp area nearest water course these days is 50 m away . I thought it may be a burnt mound ,there are none recorded for miles .Any thoughts ?
A previously unrecorded marked rock from Cowal , not particularly photogenic but an addition to the record that had little in the immediate area .
Once again the most photogenic of two previously unrecorded marked rocks in the area. The awkward spelling probably means Field of/associated with Saint Nessan . Sometimes crosses are found on or close to marked rocks but not in this case , as yet .
The most photogenic of a couple of “new” finds in the area from a couple of weeks ago . A midgie infested bog today but not so long ago the field was in crop .
At last , tree felling is allowing a bit of a view .
Found yesterday , 3 metres from the site of one of the new Beauly to Denny pylons so some notifications in hand . It has to be said that the all the previously recorded sites on the route that I’m aware have been well signed and the route avoids . This one is different ,although you may have imagined a watching brief would have taken place at such a sensitive spot . Although having said that the markings are not that clear to an unpracticed eye .
A couple of new finds , ctually from about a month ago but light was poor so had to go back a couple of weeks later to get better pics . The possible standing stone was noted about six years ago but despite the packing I didn’t feel like suggesting as a possible as they are so common but a recent visitcoupled with burnt heather led to the discovery of a sub circular enclosure that is not a hut circle ,too small and entrance is in the north and a cairn within 60 metres si I decided to consider it as a possible ,plus there is nothing upstanding like this for a couple of miles .
Turrerich has proved to be a happy hunting ground over the past few years with 10 “new ” finds to add to the single site (not pictured ) first noted in the 1960’s . These are the most photogenic .The grid ref is a pretty central for most .
Conglomerate rocks can often be confused for engravings and are generally avoided by engravers but this is a genuine example of some or all of the natural markings being enhanced .
The possible cup mark(s) on the standing stone to the south of the four poster are natural .
When the Stronach Ridge was clear of the present forestry the rock art site provided a fine view of some of the hills from Beinn Nuis to Goatfell , what had gone unnoticed was that the from the panels the sun would set over the summit of Beinn Nuis at the Summer solstice ,not in itself that noteworthy but there would also have been an eleven minute “Sun roll “ down to the bealach between Beinn Nuis and Beinn Tarsuinn . Unlike other sites where sun rolls can be seen from rock art panels the Stronach Ridge markings have quite a few radials which , if in the correct orientation , could provide an argument for evidence of intentionality and a possible recognition of the phenomena by the engravers , sadly the radials were grouped around 250 -280 with one at 290 degrees when 304 was what was required . This is in itself typical of radials in that they usually follow the slope the rock .
I had always thought that the rock art site of Carr Brae near Glen Shiel took a bit of beating for a “ view “ but it certainly has some competition here . At the foot of the hill on the coast is one of Hutton’s unconformities .
The grid ref is as noted , 140 metres south of the Canmore one . The four “possible “ cup marks are almost certainly actual .
canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/293550/details/isle+of+arran+lochranza+creag+ghlas/
A new find find from a few days ago and and a couple in the same area from last year .
Some examples of non rock art mostly from the Dundee area . The first four apart from the “standing stone ” are closest to the type of natural markings found at Slaggyford . As these are clearly not prehsitoric I’ll take them off in a couple of days if that is ok by the eds . However they might be a handy comparator .
Possible standing stone in the S.W. corner of Vatersay .
canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/21403/details/vatersay+cuithe+heillanish/
This is not the recorded marked rock by the oil tank but one I discovered about 7 years ago a in the field to the south of the farm . Small cups again ,also in a rosette but this is 25 miles and over two ranges of hills from the similar Corrody burn example . An interesting story about this is that a few weeks ago I came across a pic of it taken from the now defunct BRAC website and used to illustrate a very poorly argued idea for rock art motifs being maps of the local monuments . The pic had no caption and was supposed to be an example of a representation of a grouping of barrows .When I asked the unfortunate who had come up with the idea he had no idea where the rock was situated , what it was called or where the pic came from ,yet he had decided that it “represented ” a grouping of barrows in the area . Needless to say there are no barrows in the area and he missed the other markings on the rock .meaning there would have been an even greater number of “non” barrows in the area . Fwiw some of the cups are aligned on the cardinal points and there is a sun roll seen from the stone over the nearby Schiehallion .
Two small cups within an occulus and another at the centre of the arcs .
More small cups .
Some examples of small cup marks ,in one of the examples they are small enough to be considered large pick marks .
This rock is one a group of about 14 found over a few visits to the Rhynie area about five years ago .
Most are simple cup marks on dull granite and difficult to get decent enough pics ,this is one of the exceptions . Cups on the edge seems to be a favourite style in the NE. When I was digging this up the farmer and son arrived raging thinking I was ferreting but soon calmed down when they realised what they had on their on their land .
Found about 8 years ago , attypical in that it has not only cup marks but dumb bells and ellipses .
Mid way between or en route to/ from ?
themodernantiquarian.com/site/7616/garrow.html and
themodernantiquarian.com/site/7962/remony_burn.html
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This marked rock was found about 3 years ago , the radial is 45 cm long .The central pic is the rock as it was pre-clearance .
No reason to doubt the Canmore suggestion , but you never know .
They are problematic enough at the best of times , this one isn’t even mentioned in Canmore but is on the 6 inch 1869 OS map . Like it’s neighbour at Auchorachan it has wee protective fence .
This was found about six years ago I never posted as the rock art was hardly enthralling ,but good view of Atholl .
“A large stone and earth tumulus ” , is all that is to be found on Canmore . A dreich November day didn’t do justice to the monument that looks like it was situated to be seen from the west ,lower down near the river Garry and terraces opposite at Ardtulichan .
There are three Lurgans in Scotland all within 14 miles of each other and all above the Tay . Two have rock art close by which is a bit of a problem when it comes to naming . Therefore this new find from last Saturday should not be confused with the more spectacular themodernantiquarian.com/site/10893/lurgan.html .
Hard to believe this has gone unnoticed for what it is , as it is only 6m metres from the farm track and also sports a dynamite hole in the largest cup . The site is midway between a large numbers of marked rocks to the west and smaller but significant numbers to the east ,why this should be has always been a puzzle but the dynamite hole may be a clue ,the immediate area is a wee bit more manicured and has more “sporting ” estates . The day after my visit saw the annual Etape Caledonia cycle race which brings in a fortune for local services and also generates lots of dosh for charities , a couple of years ago it coincided with RAM ‘09 and the organisers were very helpful offering to find spaces in the race to allow us to drive to parking places to access the ornate Lurgan I decided against causing any bother and we went elsewhere but some bright local , who turned out to be a councillor or something similar , decided he wasn’t happy with the road closures and spread tacks on the route ,causing havoc . When he was eventually caught and went to court , he was admonished Sadly it happened again this year , at the nearest point to the route from this stone .
First pic is one after initial clearance of brash a few yers ago the next three are what that section looked like about a year ago .
An area relatively devoid of rock art .
canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/16049/details/leakin/
Class 2 henge , difficult to get a pic of the entire monument . In surprisingly good shape or at least I was expecting much worse . The bank is just under 2m high and the ditch is a typical broad 10m and shallow 0.5 m.Entrances are within 10-15 degrees north/south in common with a few other Class 2’s like the Bull Ring , Cairnpapple ,Broomend and Ballymeanoch .Fwiw the hill seen over the trees in the last pic is Dollar law which is where the winter solstice sun would be seen to set , an unlikely example of intentionality as it’s a wide target (5 degrees of horizon ) not indicated i.e. entrance or foresight , the sun has to set somewhere and as the horizon is relatively hilly it’s likely to be over a hill , if the hill happened to be notable i.e. pointed it might be a wee bit more salient .Plenty lithics have been found in the area dating from the Mesolithic to Late Neolithic .
Not typical of the island and don’t even know if it is recorded .
Thre new finds from Saturday , in an area with nothing prehistoric recorded for 6 km in either direction along Loch Earn and the marked rocks 3 km across the loch at Ardveich themodernantiquarian.com/site/13680/ardveich.html .
I usually omit posting pics of single cup marks but this one is interesting in that the marked surface is not the usal sandstone but a very hard igneous rock , it must have taken quite a bit longer to make and also has shown much less signs of wear .I’ve also included a “before ” pic of what one of the sites , a marked knoll , looked like before the moss was removed .
I wouldn’t normally post pics of rocks with single cup marks but as I hadn’t found anything new for 11 weeks or so ,the longest dry spell for years , I felt like celebrating . Single cup marks are only really appreciated by real anoraks but they are important in that they are the minimal amount of marking required for something to be considered rock art . So when it come to the usual question of , what does it mean ? it doesn’t leave a lot of room for creativity/bollocks . Maybe it is a recording of a monadic vision that was so powerful that was all that was required , it echoes down the years in the phrase heard everywhere in the north ” It’s a’ wan son” . On the other hand maybe the drugs were crap (cut with rock dust ?)
Altogether there four rocks with single cup marks .There were other finds too ,one on an almost vertical surface is a very uncommon occurrence in open air rock art . All the rocks except one , were found on a narrow terrace of a relatively steep hillside that coincides with the most obvious route through the Glen and the exception is found at the obvious continuation of the route . The rock with the markings on the vertical face would have been facing anyone entering the glen . The first finds here were from six years ago , two pics of the most photogenic , and despite passing the area many times I never did return for a better search until yesterday .