tiompan

As well as the rock shelter/rock art there were also a couple of cup marked boulders and a marked rock beside some shielings found on the same day.

This site , in a side glen south of Glen Lyon was discovered in April this year . An interesting aspect is that not only are rock shelters with rock art very rare but the area has no recorded prehistory . There are some homesteads in western Glen Lyon but they are medieval.

This marked rock was discovered 18 months ago , I was particularly chuffed to find it as I had ancestors living within 500 yards of it 200 years ago.For those interested in such things the azimuth from the stone to the apparent bealach between Meall raemhar and Meall nan Caorach is 155 degrees , the extreme southern moonrise .

The remains of a possible recumbent stone circle . The area to the west has turned up some marked rocks , a rarity in the county. The hill in the pics is Tap o’ Noth and the azimuth from stones to summit is within 0.4 of a degree from true North.

I went to check on a find from last year that may have been in danger from tree felling operations . It was fine but close by was this beauty , looks like a possible cist cover . The new stone may have been inverted during tree planting .

The Neolithic pit defined enclosure at Douglasmuir seems to have had some interesting maths associated with the pits . I don’t know of anything else like this and would normally think of it is down to a few coincidences but that looks unlikely .Any statisticians care to comment ?
The septum has 15 a tenth of the total the cross members have 14 15 &16 , the east side is exactly double the scale of the adjacent end 28 pits : 14 pits & 34m : 17m the west side is double the septal division .The west side of the Northern half is twice the septal division 15 pits :30 pits..Starting from the South end of 14 pits , the first half is completed with the addition of 68 pits and precisely the same number has been employed to complete the second.

This site , found last summer , produced pretty dull pics . So a visit today in classic RA pic weather , i.e. brilliant oblique sun was needed . There are three separate groups of marked rocks and one contentious one . The dodgy one is underside of an overhanging rock and has what may be cup marks but they could be entirely natural .

Snow and thick frost are not the best conditions for looking for new rock art ,so I was pleased to come across this rock , 8 m from one of those victorian obelisks set atop the only outcrop in the area . I’m confident that the rock was removed in the construction of the platform for the monument.

The rock with multiple cups is 120 m North of the other carvings , it is composd of very soft sandstone and many of the cups are probably natural.

In 1909 Fred Coles mentions two stone circles and two standing stones on Broad Moss . Subsequent visits by the OS and RCAHMS failed to follow up “local information ” that the stones had been dumped “in a den to the N.”
About five years ago I noticed the stones and this is the first visit since . Fortunately Coles had left measurements and drawings of the stones so comparison was easy . The two standing stones are obviously the same . As most of the stones of the circles were still in the ground comparing heights is a wee bit more problematic but width and depth and a guess at potential height show very close fits to the other stones. The area is improved pasture and virtually “stone free” so the stones are quite obvious .They lie in a den NO 19627 47671 .A final irony is on the site of one of the circles is a a present day circle ,but only the result of being where a straw feeder had been left and the cattle had wandered round creating the circle.

As well as small family sized stone circle , there is also a cup marked rock on Faire na Paitig . The cups are very shallow and require the best of lighting for a pic , not the iron grey ,below freezing all day , conditions .

Another new find from Glen Quaich . This stone has 40 cups and is only 120 metres South of the Amulree to Kenmore road and 380 odd meteres South East of Caisteal Dubh , a homestead .

This stone was found in 1933 . Originally flush with the ground the finder set it upright . The immediate area has many small cairns at least three times the dozen quoted in Canmore.

Found this site a couple of weeks ago. Did the O.S. chappie really fail to see the cups? The third period of markings include the cross incised stone with very small “cups ” at the terminals. There are a few other marked rocks in the area.

I’m not sure if this is a new find or not. Canmore lists two instances of marked stones in the general area but neither is anything like this one and both may be lost (see rcahms.gov.uk/pls/portal/newcanmore.newcandig_details_gis?inumlink=24982 & rcahms.gov.uk/pls/portal/newcanmore.newcandig_details_gis?inumlink=24988). At a height of 332m it has great views of Ben Lawers, Loch Tay and the Glen Lyon Hills.

I’ve passed the grassy spot where this stone lies many a time ,but today for some reason I lifted the grass and found this beauty . It’s only a few yards from another rock with deep cups which ws found about two years ago . Neither are that typical for the area .

This is quite a mathematical corner of Stirlingshire , cup marks come in pairs e.g. the pair of “spectacles” the same stone had another pair of cups as had a new one with two pairs. The triangular shaped stone has cups at the bottom right and was probably once part of the erratic close by . It is an equilateral triangle , sides of 1.2m and mirrors Ben More in the background . I doubt any self respecting megalith builder would be as crass as to erect something so Pythagorean so I assume it was done quite recently , past 2000yrs approx. The “dolmen” is in the past 20 yrs .

Yet more stuff from under 12 cm of peat , this knoll alone will keep the recorders busy for a couple of days .

This stone has been moved from it’s original site , a cairn , and ignominiously dumped by a drain . If it had been left in situ it would be a contender for a “best view” from rock art as the cairn looked straight into the quite wee (616 metres) but perfectly formed Am Bioran and also great views to Strath Earn and the bigger hills to the west .

The original height of this standing stone would have been 5m. It was blown down on the night of 28th December 1879, the same night the Tay Bridge went down.

I hope it’s ok to do this but I have called this site Farm as I would rather it remained anonymous due to the rock art being portable . The stones are good examples of re-use in a modern setting . The “Farm” is in deepest Perthshire miles from the grid ref .

latest finds from Craig Hill and a clearer view of a previous one.

Not very inspiring pics but they fill in the picture of this wee rockery.

Some more new panels discovered last week.

In an area covered in rock art this stone is easily the most interesting and ornate . First described by the minister at Kenmore , J.B. MacKenzie in 1895, the “cups” are almost non-existent , and the motifs and manner of pecking are much closer in style to Irish passage grave and some Northumbrian markings .

Good views to the South and East from this 4 poster . Close to the ground, as is often the case, on the Southermost stone is a cup mark unmentioned in the Canmore report.

This stone sits atop a moraine , locally known as a “sithean” or fairy mound . A couple of miles to the North, a slightly bigger fairy mound , Schiehallion , can be seen over the shoulder of Meall nan Eun .

This stone was found in 1976 when a road gate was being replaced . It was then removed to Naughton House and can be found 100 ms to the South of the house , not to the West as suggested in the Canmore details.

In 1995 a late Bronze age hoard was discovered to the North of Corrymuckloch Farm. The finds were 3 socketed bronze axeheads , fragments of a bronze sword and a unique handled vessel. Field walking produced one cup marked rock and a further possible cup marked rock. This one is one of 10 recent finds in the area.

In 1975 the OS said , of this stone ,“It was difficult to know whether these rather poor cup-like markings are due to weathering or are genuine weathered cup marks ” . nae doots here . Access to this stone is easy if you can find a parking place . A track to the W. of the golf club follows the Tullypowrie Burn ,about 1/4mile S. of Tullypowrie farm there is a gap in the dyke to the West ,one of the foundation stones , under moss, is the stone .

A group of three stones on a terrace above Little Tombane Farmhouse. They were discovered a couple of weeks ago but the light was poor so decided to return in brilliant weather . There are three more “new” stones in the immediate area.

A robbed cairn 10 m in diameter , with an enclosing stony bank adding a further 4m to the diameter.The stones are graded in height to the SW where one has very faint cup marks . Access is from the Loch o’ Lowes unclassified road just to the W of Ninewells Farm about 50 m into the trees.

This stone was ploughed up 100m to the WNW of it’s present position , is now situated immeciately W. of a possible ruined chapel . Access is from the unclassified Loch of Lowes road then down the Kincairney farm track the site can be seen from the farm up the brae to the N. 68 cups no rings and some channels.

This stone was described by the OS in 1984 as “not found – probably destroyed by ploughing”. Bit of an exaggeration , it’s alive and well just very difficult to find. The full grid ref is NN 89921 49591. If you are keen enough the best way to find it is to take the track that circles Creag an Loch to the North, leave at the fire break after the Linmore Burn, look out for an embankment that heads East into thick forestry, a GPS would be useful from here or just crawl/barge about 50 metres into the trees until you find the small clearing. At the moment the fire breaks to the North are covered in storm damaged trees and pretty impassable.

Not too often you get rock art so close to the top of a hill. At (approx) 306 m it’s only 8m from the top. Meikle Findowie stone circle is lower down to the North.

Don’t know why it’s called the Sack stone , there’s another in Lincolnshire , the top of which is said to resemble an opened sack . If you take the South road to Little Glenshee you get to drive through the ford ,or walk across the bridge. Just round the sharp bend after the ford there is room for a couple of cars to park. Take the track heading North follow it until it forks , just after a mile , the leave it going due east . The stone is unmissable at 3M x 2M . what is odd though is that there is a bit of a view to the South but all other directions are quite limited being in a wee corrie.

Some new finds from yesterday , they are a mile and a half west of the RCAHMS stones named Urlar Burn ,as they are in the area of the burn I have left the name , a more appropriate name might be Craig Hill. The Bolfracks stone is on the Northern slopes of that hill.

Standing in the middle of a deserted farmstead there is a another possible standing stone to the South incorporated in a doorway , it’s visible to the right of the stone in one of the pics.

There are over a hundred cup marks on this outcrop , easily accessed from a layby on the A 827, then a short walk down a private tarred drive leads to the obvious outcrop to the West.

East Lix is a wee bit difficult to access due to the thick forestry but if your gps won’t work in the trees , find your westing then barge northwards there is a narrow break going E-W , follow it until it heads N. about 20 M . , a further 20 m and the the stone is in a very small clearing to the W.

Burl describes the site as astonishing , you have to agree . 9 stone circles all abutting each other makes for an odd site , without a helicopter very difficult to photograph . Grid Ref is H 711 745 . 2 miles N.E. of Pomeroy , Co. Tyrone .

Came across this stone whilst on walk over the Cheviot and Hedgehope Hill, it’s actually a couple of miles North of the circle at 98199 22452. Looks like a contender to me and is not part of a dyke etc.

Discovered last year, not listed on CANMORE. There are other cup marked rocks in the area but not as decorative as this.

pic quality is a bit duff but it could show a possible alignment with sunset a couple of days before winter solstice .