tiompan

This rock was first discovered four years ago but weather then was dull and pics equally so . Nine cups and fine view of Stath Garry and Atholl .

A “Perthshire pair ” the western stone is recumbent . General orientation is SW/NE .

The north side of Loch Tay has plenty rock art but there is a dearth on the south side so any new find find is a bit special . This one was discovered yesterday 444 m up on the west side of Tullich Hill , bearing 51 cups .

I found this marked rock about four years ago just above a very steep bank over the Corrody Burn in Strathbraan .Similar to Hob’s recent posting from Copenhagen .

Five new finds from yesterday , (the most interesting one in the pics ), in an area that has produced nine marked rocks in the past four years or so .Weather was heavy showers then brilliant sunshine ,among the sights and sounds were the “belling” of rutting stags and inquisitive red kites .

These stones were discovered about 4 years ago I didn’t bother posting them then as they wern’t particularly good pics and the markings were not too special .The reason for posting now is that I have just discovered that the landowner /steward of the countryside has removed them and dumped them by the river , quite a feat and not a lot gained There were three rocks and all were , fortunately , recorded in Discovery and Excavation Scotland and Canmore .

A new motif , uncovered a week ago and two new marked rocks ,found yesterday brings the total to thirty for this area .

The rock art in the Ben Lawers area has been well scoured , particularly a fine tooth comb survey by RCAHMS in 2000 , neverthelss it is still possible to find “new” stuff ,there were four new ones today including one at 630m , second highest in Britain .The most photogenic was this one , over 90 cup marks ,rings , connecting grooves etc .

Had a  few searches in the past but no rock art was forthcoming in Glen Lednock despite it being a likely area but found three “new ” marked rocks a couple of weeks ago . This is the funniest , a bit of simulacra although I doubt if it was intentional . The rocks are within a mile of the “stone circle ” stone setting may be more appropriate as one certailny looks like it was erected with a few lying around in a shape even Thom couldn’t describe .

Have just checked and when looking along the line of the cursus in the opposite direction to the Samhain ,Imbolc orientation , the sun will rise just to the south of the prominent Deuchary Hill on the Beltane (May 1 )and Lughnasadh August 1 ) . This is not necessarily expected as it is due to the the differing heights of the horizon . What it does is double the likelihood of intentionality .

Found a couple of weeks ago , previously unrecorded .The site is on the northern side of Loch Tummel . It is approx a mile west of the more ornate Craig Balnabodach .The most obvious hills in view are Schiehallion and Farragon .

Removal of whins from the cursus and trees either side have given an improved view of the monument and possible orientation on North Ballo Hill . The declination is -15.8 and indicates where the sun would rise on the cross quarter days of Imbolc and Samhain whether this was intentional or mattered to the builders is open to debate .Originally considered to be a Roman vallum . It extends 2.3 k although it may originally been even longer .
RC dates from 1993 confirmed it being pre Roman giving a date of 3600 BC.
The building of the monument began at the NW with a sub circular burial mound ,subsequently an 80 m –long barrow was added to the SE. a bank on the same alignment as the barrow followed by realignment to the S.The monument was then constructed in segments with gaps in the bank and ditches breaking the monument into five sections.

A marked rock with 18 cup marks and a group of eight hut circles 500 metres away discovered yesterday , all previously unrecorded , in the lee of Schiehallion (hill in background).

Forecast was bright early on so decided to get some better pics of of two rocks discovered about 18 months ago . At the time the cups were not at all clear , particularly the markings on the horzontal face of one of the rocks , not a common feature . Managed to find another unrecorded one that I had missed previously ,before the sleet started . There are other recorded rocks in the area about 500 metres to the south .

Three new panels uncovered last week .

Four of seven new marked rocks discovered on Saturday ,they are spread over a stretch of 2 miles on the eastern side of Glen Goulandie which has no previous recorded marked rocks . Access is easiest from the Coshieville -Tummel Bridge road , if you can get parked then head up hill , the rocks are on the 350 m contour .If anyone needs better grid refs etc , do ask .

“New” marked rock discovered yesterday , 300 metres from main outcrop .

Two “new” panels today and one from last week .

A couple of months ago I found twelve or so unrecorded marked rocks in the Lurgan area , returning to check for more I came across a large outcrop that had recently been cleared of trees , resulting in a WW1 type landscape , mud and brash everywhere .It looked promising though and the finds piled up after clearing . To date there are at least eleven panels with over 230 cups and a great variety of motifs .

Forecast was good , had to be home to write out Machine Head’s “Imperium” for a student and then watch Celtic . So decided on a non archaeo day out on Ben Vrackie the wee hill that sits above Pitlochry ,time to nip up and down and get everything done , nothing archaeo except the two old goats that haunt the summit . Sadly /luckily on the the early part of the route there is a land rover track and I spotted a stone right next to it , uncovered it and there were some cup marks and even a ring , bit more scouting around and found another two , all unrecorded by this time Ben Vrackie was out of the picture so went over to Balnacraig found another then a further two later at Upper Ballachandy . I have only posted the most glamorous pair .

Two years ago ,almost to the day I found seven unrecorded marked rocks .Today it was only five new ones with one particularly photogenic . I’ll post the older pics soon .

As well as the three stones of the alignment there is another similar shaped stone with cup marks approx 30metres to the west of the westernmost stone .

The central recumbent stone of this three stone row has a cup mark , evident from a distance but not recorded . Despite lots of likely hills surrounding the stones the most likely astro alignment is to the NW , Cat Law , the summit of which would outline the major lunar standstill .

Ledcharrie in Glen Dochart is midway between Killin and Crianlarich but is also where an important track goes south over the hill to Balquhidder . The area has no recorded cup marks or anything prehistoric. Until today . One of the rocks has what looks like a rosette which includes a dumbell surrounding two cups .

This must be one of the smallest , approx 3m at it’s widest internally . The gps is for scale , you could get more people in the average stone circle than gps’s in here .

A rare example of cup marks in Knapdale , there are another couple of marked rocks in the immediate area .

This trio are up to their necks in peat . It would be interesting to see their feet , which could be a long way down , after all this was how bits of Callanish looked before the peat was removed . A lot of the standing stones in the area are engraved so their may be rock art too. Access is awkward as it can be very wet underfoot even in the driest weather , wellies , flipper and snorkel or bollock naked reccomended attire , or lack of .

Right on the main Kyle road . Cille Fhearchair is Farquhar’s cell or church and was a burial ground .

This stone is in an odd situation , far from the terraces above Loch Tay and close to the loch shore shore , among trees with a very limited prospect to the north even if the trees were cleared and a hillock to the south . It is 1.5m high and aligned 340 degrees .Access could be difficult as it is a steep drop from the road and there is no convenient parking place . Tir Artair means Arthur land or domain .

One of only two standing stones on the north terraces above Loch Tay. Judging by the amount of rockart and quality soil the area must have been well populated from at least the Late Neolithic. The stone is aligned 30 degrees and would have pointed to the summer major lunar standstill on the slopes of East Mealour. There is a cup marked rock, due east in the same field.

Some marked rocks found a couple of years ago on the hill opposite Clach a Mhoid

A couple of newly discovered marked rocks , missed by the royal commission survey of 2000 .The hills in the background are part of the Ben lawers range .

A fine setting , view is of Carn Liath .The cairn was found to contain the two side slabs of a cist .

A new marked rock found today .

A couple of standing stones 500 metres to the north of the stone circle , there is another at Tops Demesne a wee bit further north west .

Not quite in the Auchenlaich league for being long , you’ll get six of Bracklin Burn into Auchenlaich and still have room for another chamber , but at 53.5 m still quite impressive.It’s aligned WNWN-ESE and tapers from 14.8 m, at the eastern end to 8.5m at the west .

Two more stones found today at Glascorrie one under turf and the other under a pile of field clearance .

Apologies for such a dull pic but this field , close to an esker on the River Earn was the site of a Class 1 henge 19m in diameter a Class 2 Henge 44 m in diameter and another possible henge 22m in diameter .

One of the most important Neolithic sites in southern Scotland . Occupying 16 acres of an upland natural amphitheatre there is not a lot to see and the dull pics don’t help much either . It is possible to access the site from the road to the nearby quarry but be careful where, you park , lorries use it constantly .

When originally discovered this motif appeared to have five rings curtailed by the edge of the rock ,see themodernantiquarian.com/post/53565 ,
quite a common feature in rock art . However ,when the the area surrounding them was cleaned up a bit and with better lighting the ” rings ” turned out to be two sets of arcs giving the impression of rings . While there are lots of examples of rings being cut off at a fissure or or change in slope or texture I don’t know of any that have it on two sides .

Some new motifs on a area of bedrock found a couple of months ago .

Four “new ” panels found today , more incisions on one too .

These two pics are of the same stretch of rock and show what a difference appropriate lighting and a drop of water can make .

I have named this stone after a nearby glen , it should really be called Monzie (pronounced mo -nee )but that would cause confusion as there is a more famous monument at another Monzie near Crieff . This stone was found about a year ago and is interesting in that the cups are aligned to the cardinal points. The nearby hill is Carn Liath (975m) part of Beinn ’ Ghlo .

The big stone also has some cup marks.

A new motif found yesterday plus some examples of incisions . Quite a few of the marked rocks in the area have multiple incisions but rarely across the motifs . Despite this my first explanation would be defacement . The incisions are not at all similar to the “Arrow Stones ” or like those found at Balendune.

Some new finds from today , the blue stone in one of the pics is fist sized ,very hard whinstone with signs of percussion marks in the centre It could well be the hammerstone that was used in the the carvings.

Last weekend I found a stretch of rock with some cup marks and an incribed name , Alexander Crerar , on the same rock .Sadly there was no date but a wee bit geneaological research came up with a local who had written in journals in the early 1800’s . I like to think this may be the same chap , if so he would be one of the early rock art researchers . A return journey this weekend produced seven new marked rocks , not bad for a quiet glen that had no previous recorded prehistory .

Yesterday whilst visiting the Loanhead of Daviot and New Craig RSC ‘s I noticed an outcrop about half way between the sites . I was surprised to discover about 40 plus cups with rings ,unfortunately the bullocks in the field became a wee bit too up close and personal one in particular seemed determined to avenge his Hispanic cousins so I retreated . Luckily I was able to return in the early with chum Stan and we managed to get some water on the markings and a good ten minutes gawping before the thunder of Aberdeen Angus hooves sent us to the fence . This is easily the biggest outcrop and largest number of cups in Aberdeenshire , a county that doesn’t have much rock art at all but the amazing thing is that countless numbers of archaeos must have walked between the two sites , a kilometre , and just failed to the notice the markings

There was a fine temperature inversion in Strathtummel and at 300m the views were just the tops of the bigger Perthshire hills . Not a lot of rock art in the area but I had expectations and found a couple of “new ” rocks 5m apart on the 375 contour , not the highest in the UK but close. The first had nine cups and the adjacent outcrop had over fifty , nine with rings . By the time that outcrop had been cleared so had the mist . Interestingly the biggest hill in the area , Schiehallion , would not have been in view when the engraver did their work , but if they stood up , there it was .