tiompan

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 .

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 .

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