Quite a big cairn ,15 m diameter and 3.5m high on a spur of Auld Darkney ( 545m ) one of the hills that mark the Highland Boundary Fault above Strathmore , despite the modest height , views are good across the strath and out the North Sea .
Never been excavated and it was there in 1744 . Canmore doesn’t consider it prehistoric and I won’t disagree .
tiompan
I’m surprised there are no pics for this site .Coles had them as stone circles and for Burl they were kerb cairns . Quite a bit of damage done in the late 80’s . I slept here ,in a bivvy bag about 40 years ago , people did that then .
This rock was first discovered just over five years ago on a dull November day and the pics were equally dull , with only a couple of cups clear enough to convince anyone .I hadn’t returned until today , despite it being only over a local hill , not much more than six miles away . Now the total is 18 cups .
Not entirely lost , the dimensions given by Coles fit the stones perfectly .The area where they were dumped is “stone free ” with the exception of these anomalous monsters. Story here .
canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/28710/details/broad+moss/
These marked rocks were found about five years ago . A distinguishing feature of these and other engravings in the area is the small cup marks . Either a localised style or the same minimalist engraver ? Another local example is themodernantiquarian.com/site/11600/corrody_burn.html
Five years ago ,almost to the day , I came across this deserted settlement which was not recorded on Canmore or even noted on the 6 inch to the mile 1867 map of the area ,apart from that what was striking was a couple of possible standing stones , 7 metres apart , aligned a few degrees off due east to west , One was pointed and the other wide topped and sloping . The interesting bit is that all these characteristics are of of a group of monuments , the “Perthshire pairs ” , like all stones that appear to be standing stones unless they are found to have some association that dates them it’s down to speculation what period they were erected in but the similarities with a recognised typology give them a wee bit of credence .
Good to be back on home turf after a while dahn sarf . Five new finds today , some of the most photogenic .
Set off on Sunday in the expectation of getting a temperature inversion at Loch Earn but it was just beautiful clear skies , so had to put up with that .
Some new finds , two of which were notable in relation to their relatively limited viewsheds , something that I’ve noticed with other monuments i.e. they are sited metres away from what would be a very expansive view in most directions but an intervening ridge blocks much of it .In one case the marked rock is actually in the bed of a burn with sides 3m high and therefore a very limited view . By the time I found it the sun had gone in and the cup marks are not at all clear . In the other I have included a pic of the view that is only a matter of metres away .
Discovered yesterday , 160 metres to the NW from themodernantiquarian.com/site/13479/kiltyrie.html .Despite the proximity the chambered cairn is unsighted . Kiltyrie is a bit of a rock art desert in the middle of the rich Ben lawers area ,possibly due to limestone being more prominent here .
The remains of this chambered cairn were only discovered in 2000 . It’s a Clyde -Carlingford type so quite a long way from from it’s usual area in the the SW of Scotland but there are others in Perthshire . Fwiw it’s oriented E-W and the equinox would be seen on the day on either horizon barring tree cover .
More big cups from this area .You can’t help but think it’s the same person rather than very localised style .They are all within 300m of each other .
This cairn , like so many of the chambered cairns in this area is low lying and close to the present road(s) /obvious route avoiding the bog and hills , which with the exception of Ben More Assynt are not very high but nevertheless impressive .
Yesterday turned out a good day for new finds .I wouldn’t normally post pics of single cup marks but there were three different rocks with almost basin sized cups within a 150 m of each other .Then a bit further on it was much smaller cups than usual . One pic of a find from a couple of years ago too.
Despite a common assumption prominent hill tops and clefts are not usually the points where important astronomical events are seen from the perspective of prehistoric monuments .So it was a bit of a surprise to find that the most obvious hill top and cleft (marked with black dots ) as seen from this site turned out be to very close to the major standstill (the cleft ) and summer solstice sun set (hill top ). Coincidence ? I believe so , I’m far from convinced about the site being a four poster or prehistoric . Over the hill is a “heavily cup marked boulder ” , according to Canmore .canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/263767/details/dun+muir/
But it’s just a conglomerate boulder with “pebble drop” .
Decided to check on some finds from a few years ago that were photograpehd and recorded in quite dull light, as today was a bit brighter maybe some more motifs would be evident .One thing was immediately apparent was that digger had been in the area ripping up some knolls for rock .Did find some new motifs but at one site I thought I was hallucinating , about 15 metres away was what looked like a kerb stone from an Irish passage grave ,I had spent much of the last week immersed in the stuff or maybe it was the Sally Army bass drum heard earlier (repetitive drumming ) or getting up half an hour earlier (sleep deprivation ) mushrooms from last night (not even shitake never mind anything else ) by the time I got there it was obviously real , maybe the engraver was a 21st C tipper driver high on red bull but if not it’s a bit special .
Audrey Henshall believed the two stones , there is also a recumbent third , to be a portal and the first stone of a side chamber of a chambered cairn .
The first image is from the official web site relating to the dig and has been taken from an oblique angle distorting the image and requiring the engraver to have had 2m long arms to get near the motifs .The second is mine taken directly above the motifs .Why were no pics taken from the obvious position and shown on the web site .?
Some fine previously unrecorded finds from today .
first or last pic, depending on how you look at it is good example of bad light not showing up eight cup marks three of which have rings .The next pic is the same rock surface in decent light .
Another marked rock 200 metres north of the other one .
Returned on a slightly brighter day and detail improves .
Out for a wander yesterday with better half and found this stone in the middle of a rock art desert . Nearest recorded rock art from here is about 12 Km over a bealach at about 1400 ft so nearly three hours walking .To the south east and west it’s a lot more distance wise and the physical problems are much greater , higher hills or lochs etc .Sadly midday on a cloudy August day is not ideal for rock art pics , a shame as there is a nice wee “rosette” will have to wait for better conditions before it can be seen.
New find of underwhelming shallow cups ,with the promise of more . N.b. the most obvious “marking” is natural .
Two clear cups on south side with two smaller on the south .
Very speculative , but the axis of the flattest face of the stone ,taken from ground level , gives a fairly accurate azimuth and subsequent declination for the major standstill .
I found these engravings about four years ago close to the recorded Glennan site and assumed they were known about but it was only when reading the reports and these wern’t mentioned that it became apparent that they were a “new” find .
A new find from saturday . Although only 15 or so miles from the main areas of rock art in Perthshire , immedaitely east of the Tay/Garry there is a great drop in numbers with groups of 1-3 being found often miles apart .This one is the southernmost of a 7 mile long group on a terrace above the river . Whilst recording a great spotted woodpecker was knocking off bits from the adjacent birch tree , not doing the usual rat a tat tatting and totally oblvious until of course i got the bins out then it was off .
New find from a couple of days ago , right by one of the main paths up Ben lawers and just a few metres from a shieling .Never been noted before probabaly due to being under turf .
The central fissure seems to have quite an impact on siting of markings with only a few on one side .The ” busier side ” is also in two sections with one part cups , (some with single rings ) and the other markings that are similar to con-joined cups or “dumb-bells ” with neither description being quite right . At 410 metres OD it’s quite high for rock art .
Supposedly the burial place of Kenneth 4th of Scotland , two problems it’s never been excavated and there never as a Kenneth 4th ( some Celtic/liverpool supporters may disagree ). Kenneth 3rd was killed locally and that is probably the reason for the association .
I was thinking it had similarities with some of the excavated cairns that proved to be Bronze Age in the Brecon Beacons /Black Mountains . Sited on the high point of a spur of flat topped modest sized hills (In this case 776 m) overlooking lowlands allowing for the cairn to be seen from a wide area .
Another example of small shallow cups from an area that seems to have quite a few .Not very special except for that .Have included a ” before” for Postie .
New find from today .Total of thirty ,mostly , small cups .It seems to be a local style . A number of others within a three mile radius exhibit it , possibly the same engraver ?
i.e www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/11600/corrody_burn.html
Some new finds from Saturday ,plus one from a while ago that was never photographed in good enough light .Nothing spectacular but there are now 30 marked rocks in this area .
First discovered at least 35 years ago .Dunno by whom .Tree felling going on in the area so slightly apprehensive .They should be aware as it’s on Canmore .
Some new finds from today and one old find from about four years ago turned out to be more ornate on further investigation, having what looks like a cartouche like enclosure around four cups . .The first 2 pics are the old one which is among the older pics but only showing about 8 cups .The other four are two examples of before and after ,they don’t look much but a bit of oblique light and water brings out the motifs .
Is it or isn’t it ? I dunno ,if pushed I would say it’s not prehistoric but obviously not natural ,the stones have been set and the central one toppled . It’s not in Canmore or on any map . I can’t believe it wasn’t noticed by RCAHMS when they visited the nearby hut circle and enclosures .FWIW it’s aligned 42 degrees and the resulting declination is about a degree and a half off the major standstill which is probabaly coincidence .But then again , nahh .
Another good day for new finds in this area .Last three are for Postie , a typical single cup mark ,one of the most frequent finds but usually bypassed in favour of the more photogenic stuff and a before and after example .This one was pretty obvious with traffic light green moss signalling possible cups .
Today was meant to be a nice wee hill walk with better half so decided to go to a strictly non rock art area .Better half decided on wearing walking boots despite pre walk chat about how useless they are in really wet conditions .So it turned out even the wellies were put to the test in the glaur and snow melt combined with previous few days heavy rains . Returned to the car after a few hours and e decided to go for a drier “country ramble ” both in wellies this time . There was some rock art about 1 Km away but weren’t really bothered about looking . So surprised to find this one . Sorry about the secrecy as it is in a farmers field , he wasn’t in so think i should wait to tell him and also ask to have a beter look around for the expected/hoped for others .
more pics here .
rockartuk.fotopic.net/c1246620.html
an example of natural “cups ”
Returned today in slightly warmer weather ,at least the moss ,heather and turf could be shifted and as hoped and expected there were more cups ,30 in total .
First find of the New Year , just one big cup mark with the likelihood of more under moss/turf which was frozen solid so a return visit in order .Not really a day for looking for rock art with few surfaces exposed . Included a pic of a family of deer for faerygirl , hardly wildlife photography but they are there somewhere .
Late Bronze Age (at the earliest ) causeway across wetland . Pics are from the ’ 07 season there has been a further 2 years digging but I don’t know of any significant finds in the last couple of years .
A couple of new finds from yesterday raises the total to 22 for the area . One was particularly photogenic .
2009 excavation of aisled house 150 metres from the stone .
Some more new finds from yesterday . The 4x4 grid is uncommon .
Unlike it’s northern counterpart the south side of Loch Tay has large areas devoid of rock art so these new finds from the week end are a bit of a treat . The prominent rock is 6m high,with rucksack for scale , only three cup marks on the top but the rock itself is noteworthy .
First couple of pics are of a site found a while ago and due to poor light motifs just never came out too clearly. Last two were a new find on Sunday .
A few years ago I found a marked rock about three miles from here and at a height of 690 m it was esily the highest in the UK and I didn’t think it that likely to find anything much higher .
Until these two .They are not much to look at but the context is astonishing . The boss and surrounding groove is at 844 m and the cup mark is at 1011 m . .When you consider the latter is higher than Skafell and there are only 120 hills above 1011m in Scotland the chances of finding something higher is diminishing .
Recent find from above Loch Earn .
A couple of new panels discovered last week on this outcrop . One sloping at 60 degrees so not quite typical .
Some new finds from the area . The “sun symbol” motif is particularly rare .