tiompan

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 .