Ostensibly non-linear carved designs, generally assumed to be Bronze Age in date, but many originate in the neolithic period (some may indeed date back to 5000 BCE). Their central features are small rounded cup-markings, circles, semi-circles, curved lines (short, mid-length, and long), straight-ish lines, double- and multiple-rings, all in usually abstract design-forms. Their almost complete non-linear nature relate to non-egoic structuralisms, making them difficult to ‘intellectually’ grasp. Added to this is that no two carvings are the same. Although no direct ‘meaning’ can be ascribed to the carvings, many of them have a relationship with ancient notions of death and/or burial. In animistic terms, they relate to the spirit of rocks and other features of the natural landscape. They have very little relationship with alignment features (though exceptions in some megalithic rings have been found). Some modern writers allege positive relationships with water, but this ingredient (if tenable) cannot yet be said with any certainty: the idea should be forged onto animistic relationships with the land itself.
Take the A822 road to the northeast of Crieff and head 4-5 miles along until you enter the Sma’ Glen. You go past Ossian’s Stone and after crossing the river the road starts to go uphill. Nearly 2 miles up, the road levels out and at the left-side of the road is a small thin car-parking spot. Keep your eyes truly peeled for that! Walk through the gate and along the track (west) for 300 yards until you reach the fence. Once here, walk right (north) and go through the gate less than 50 yards away. Less than 300 yards ahead of you you’ll see a small rock outcrop. Get to it!
Archaeology & History
Rediscovered in July 2023, on this small rock outcrop it seems that only the lower east section has been carved, and it can be pretty difficult to see beneath the old layers of lichen that’s been painted across its surface. Comprising of just four cup-marks close to each other on the top of the stone, there’s a possible fifth cup to be seen on its northeast length. It’s nowt special to look at to be honest, but it’s worth checking out when you’re looking at the others in this cluster. In truth, this is another that’s only gonna be of interest to the real geeks amongst you!
Cup-and-Ring Stone (lost): OS Grid Reference – SE 0965 4797
Archaeology & History
In Ronald Morris’ (1989) gazetteer of British petroglyphs, he included this curious entry but gave no real details regarding its appearance or history. Listed by the Royal Commission lads, it would seem to have been located immediately south of the dismantled railway where it used to cross the Addingham-Ilkley road, but no one seems to have seen it either before or since Morris’ description. Any help regarding its whereabouts would be appreciated.
References:
Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS: Wakefield 2003.
Morris, Ronald W.B., “The Prehistoric Rock Art of Great Britain: A Survey of All Sites Bearing Motifs more Complex than Simple Cup-marks,” in Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, volume 55, 1989.
Cup-Marked Stone (lost): OS Grid Reference – NO 074 458
Archaeology & History
In J. Romilly Allen’s (1882) lengthy essay on rock art in Scotland, he mentions a singular boulder that was “found by Dr Rattray” at Laighwood, near Butterstone—but, unlike him, he gave no further details regarding its appearance or exact whereabouts. It was included in the Royal Commission (1990) survey of the area, with no additional details. It remains lost. In the event that you manage to rediscover it, grab some good photos of it and stick ’em on our Facebook group. (the grid-reference to this site is an approximation)
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, North-East Perth: An Archaeological Landscape, HMSO: Edinburgh 1990.
Acknowledgements:Huge thanks for use of the Ordnance Survey map in this site profile, reproduced with the kind permission of the National Library of Scotland.
Cup-and-Ring Stone (lost): OS Grid Reference – NY 909 702
Archaeology & History
Chesters carving, 1887
The whereabouts of this carving is somewhat of a mystery. Originally found three or four hundred yards away to the northeast of Chesters mansion, it was moved from there into the porch entranceway of the place—and here it lived for, hmmmm….well, we’re not quite sure how long it was here. The only description of the carving seems to have been made by the Rev. G.R. Hall in 1887, and between then and sometime in the 20th century, it’s disappeared to god-knows-where. The only known photo of the carving (right) suggests that the original design was somewhat bigger as the stone looks to have been broken off from a larger piece. Mr Hall told us:
“this stone is 3 feet in length by 2 feet 6 inches in breadth, of irregular form. It has five incised cups on each side of a wide, slightly curved channel, which crosses the stone at nearly its widest part. Two other grooves intersect this longest channel, one forming a segment of a circle. At the opposite end of the slab are two nearly parallel grooves passing towards the largest hollow. The ten cups vary from 1½ inches to 3 inches in diameter, and are from half an inch to an inch in depth.”
All being well, the carving is hiding in a wall somewhere, or maybe beneath His Lordship’s bed. Hopefully it’ll re-appear sometime soon…
References:
Beckensall, Stan, Northumberland’s Prehistoric Rock Carvings – A Mystery Explained, Pendulum: Rothbury 1983.
Hall, G.R., “On Some Cup-incised Stones, found in an Ancient British Burial-mound at Pitlands Hills, near Birtley, North Tynedale,” in Archaeologia Aeliana (2nd Series) volume 12, 1887.
Cup-and-Ring Stone (lost): OS Grid Reference – NU 053 128
Archaeology & History
This lost carving may have been brought to light as a result of field ploughing which, quite fortunately, uncovered a Bronze Age burial site with a cup-and-ring stone therein. It was reported by the regional historian David Dixon (1895) in his classic work on this area, although his description was brief and he made no sketch of the design. He told us:
“A stone-lined grave or cist, similar to that discovered at Mile, was found several years ago on Mountain Farm, in or near to which was a sandstone slab, covered with a fine example of the incised circles, such as are found in the rocks at Routin Lynn, Bewick Hill, Chatton Law and Lordenshaws Camp.”
These other petroglyphs he mentions are bloody impressive! Sadly they’re not yet on TNA. (site profiles required of them are considerable in size – if anyone would like to write them 😉 )
References:
Beckensall, Stan, Northumberland’s Prehistoric Rock Carvings – A Mystery Explained, Pendulum: Rothbury 1983.
Dixon, David D., Whittingham Vale, Northumberland, Robert Redpath: Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1895.
Cup-Marked Stone (lost): OS Grid Reference – NT 179 356
Archaeology & History
In Sir George Douglas’ (1899) brief sketch of prehistoric remains in Peeeblesshire, he described coming across a petroglyph somewhere near the top of the Iron Age hillfort east of Stobo Castle, near Drumelzier (King Arthur country). He told that,
“on a flat stone lying on the slope of the fort at Lour, are two “cups,” measuring 2¾ inches in diameter and an inch in depth, and exhibiting perfect symmetry in their form and position on the stone: they have been thought to be genuine examples of “rock-markings”.”
The carving hasn’t been seen since and it’s presumed that vegetation has covered the stone. (the grid-reference for this site is an approximation)
Cup-and-Ring Stone (lost): OS Grid Reference – NT 942 295
Also Known as:
Whitelaw Stone
Archaeology & History
Sometime at the end of the 1860s, a local man—Mr William Wightman of Wooler—was in possession of this impressive-looking petroglyph which, we presume, he uncovered. The carved stone was, as we can see, broken off from a larger piece and so it’s very evident that this was originally a larger design than the one illustrated here in Mr Middlemass’ (1872) drawing. The only information we have about it are from his short notes,
The Whitelaw Stone
“was found on the north side of a hill called Whitelaw, the next eminence south-east from Yeavering Bell. The stone is a very hard gritty sandstone, and bears distinctly the tool marks by which the circles have been cut. The tool must have been of iron or bronze, as the material is too hard to be operated upon by stone implements; moreover, the tool marks shew that the instrument used had a sharp round point, and must have been held in a similar way to the modern chisel. The marks shew the size of the point. The object of the artist evidently has been to fill the stone with ornament as between the two great circles; and at the corners he has placed smaller circles to suit the space. The similar nature of the circles on all the stones hitherto figured would seem to show that such stones, if monumental, were not legendary, but, most probably of a religious character; serving, like the Christian cross, to invite the traveller to pay his devotions on a spot rendered sacred by the emblems of worship.”
Searches for this have been made by Stan Beckensall (1983) and his acolytes, but it remains lost. (the grid-ref is an approximation)
References:
Beckensall, Stan, Northumberland’s Prehistoric Rock Carvings – A Mystery Explained, Pendulum: Rothbury 1983.
Middlemass. Robert, “On an Inscribed Stone in the Possession of Mr William Wightman, Bank, Wooler,” in History Berwickshire Naturalists Club, volume 6, 1869-72.
Cup-and-Ring Stone (lost): OS Grid Reference – NT 269 419
Also Known as:
Kittlegairy Burn
Archaeology & History
Fred Coles’ 1898 sketch
An apparently isolated cup-and-ring stone was found on the hills north of Peebles at the end of the 19th century by the renowned Scottish megalith explorer, Fred Coles. (1899) He was having a look at some of the hillforts in the area and—as some of us tend to do—he began meandering off-track, down streams, through bogs and as a result came across the carving that’s illustrated here. It’s subsequently become “lost” in the hills, but it shouldn’t be too difficult to locate, as the description he gave of its whereabouts is a pretty good one. He told us:
“A very little over one mile and a quarter up the valley, measuring from the road at Kerfield Cottage, a tiny rivulet called Kittlegairy Burn trickles down from the SE into the main stream. On the hill to its east, and about 450 feet higher, are the remains of a fort, one of a series of three crowning prominent heights along this side of the valley. Down the main stream from Kittlegairy Burn is a large ruined sheep-shelter called Soonhope. Nearly midway between these two points a deep curve has been hollowed out of the E. bank; and, at the foot of this rather high gravel bank, half immersed in the stream, lies the block of stone with the cup-and ring-marks. They were discovered, 14th September 1896, by my daughter, Helen, on crossing the stream; and we at once proceeded to make a measured drawing, a reproduction of which is given here…. The depth of the rings in proportion to their width is the one most noticeable feature; next, the extreme thinness of the intervening ‘neck’; but, on a minute and careful examination of the nature of the stone itself, taking into consideration that its angularity and sharpness of edge and the absence of moss or even of confervoid growths on its surfaces went against the possibility of its being truly waterworn.”
The rock had obviously fallen from its original position above the burn. Today, the entire area where this stone exists has been covered by a huge forestry plantation, but if any rock art fanatics from the Peebles area get bored one day and have nothing to do…..
References:
Coles, Fred, “Notices of the Discovery of a Cist and Urns at Juniper Green, and of a Cist at the Cunninghar, Tillicoultry, and of some Undescribed Cup-marked Stones’, in Proceedings Society Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 33, 1899.
Morris, Ronald W.B., “The Cup-and-Ring and Similar Early Sculptures of Scotland; Part 2 – The Rest of Scotland except Kintyre,” in Transactions of the Ancient Monuments Society, volume 16, 1969.
Cup-and-Ring Stone (removed): OS Grid Reference – NT 807 659
Archaeology & History
A carving that no longer exists in its place of origin, but can now be seen in the National Museum of Antiquities in Edinburgh. It was discovered by a Mr James Craw (1931), who gave us the following account of his find:
“In 1910 my attention was attracted by some markings on a boulder on the top of a field wall, ¼-mile NNW of Grant’s House church and at an elevation of some 550 feet above sea level. The stone was a rounded and somewhat flattened slab of greenstone, measuring 22 inches by 17 inches by 4 inches… It bore a small cup ½-inch in diameter, surrounded by two rings of shallow incision, the outer being 3 inches in diameter. From the cup a duct, partly natural, led across the stone, and another cup, without rings, had also a short duct. Adjacent to these markings was a curious grid design of shallow lines, a series of parallel lines ¼-inch apart, being crossed at right angles by lines 2½ inches apart.”
1930 photo of the carving
Across a section of the stone there may also be a curving pecked line which Craw didn’t appear to notice. The parallel lines would appear to have quite separate origins, with those running below the cup-and-ring seeming to be ancient, whereas the others have the appearance of being cut with metal tools and seem much more like modern scarring.
Shortly after finding the stone, Mr Craw took the petroglyph to the National Museum in Edinburgh, where he was told that they didn’t think it “as being of early workmanship, the cups and rings being of much smaller proportions than the typical markings of the Bronze Age and the grid design having no known parallel.” They were wrong on both accounts of course, although I for one still remained unconvinced by one set of parallel lines that run along to the edge of the stone. That said, there are similar carvings of parallel lines at the impressive Traprain Law 15 miles northwest of here, so I may be wrong.
The wall in which this carving was found was obviously not its place of origin. It most likely came from one of the cairns that was reported by J. Hardy to have been destroyed in this field in 1882.
References:
Craw, James H., “An Inscribed Boulder from Grants House,” in History of Berwickshire Naturalists Club, volume 27, 1931.
Edwards, Arthur J.H., “Rock Sculpturings on Traprain Law,” in Proceedings Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 69, 1935.
Morris, Ronald W.B., “The Cup-and-Ring and Similar Early Sculptures of Scotland; Part 2 – The Rest of Scotland except Kintyre,” in Transactions of the Ancient Monuments Society, volume 16, 1969.
Two ways: i) up the A93 road from Blairgowrie, after 5 miles turn right at the Bridge of Cally and up Glen Shee. After another 3½ miles, keep your eyes peeled for the tiny road on the right signposted to the Drumturk Cheese farmshop. Go up this long tiny winding road for a mile up to the cheese place and keep on this road for another 2¼ miles where you can park up near the entrance to the huge wind-farm; or – (ii) from Alyth, go up the long winding tiny Bamff Road and keep to the signposts for Bridge of Cally Glen Shee until, after about 4 miles, you reach the entrance to the windfarm. Walk up the track to the windmills, bearing right at the first junction, then right again at the next one. From here, shortly before the second windmill, walk down into the moor for nearly 200 yards. It’s quite a large stone.
Archaeology & History
Interlocking rings close-up
This is impressive. Very impressive! Found within a huge mass of other prehistoric sites in the Forest of Alyth, its only known petroglyphic bedfellows—Drumderg (1) nearly 500 yards yards south, and Drumderg (3) 120 yards north—have nothing on this one! Where the others have basic cupmarks, this bears a series of multiple interlocking cup-and-ring designs, some with one ring, others with two, and one with four, albeit incomplete rings.
The design is etched onto the sloping face of a curved triangular ‘female’ stone. An eroded cutting all but separates the two main components of the design, but this cut has within it a distinct singular cup-and-ring almost linking each side together. On one side (which is near the middle of the stone) we have a complex series of multiple cup-and-rings that seem to be sequentially moving and (almost) growing into each other in some form of organic pattern. The bottom of this growth begins from a standard cup-and-ring and runs immediately into a vulva-like slit of a cup-mark surrounded by four incomplete rings. As the photos show, this keeps climbing upwards.
Cupmarks on its W-sideLooking into the setting sun
A more simplistic basic design has been etched onto the more western side of the stone, on the other side of the eroded cutting. Two of the cup-marks have rings around them, with one of them seeming to give birth to another upward “growth”, but this time comprising merely of a line of more cups, curving ever-so-gently towards the middle of the stone. Along with this there are also cup-marks on the top ridge of the stone; faint carved lines curve and intersect. Movement seems embedded in this fixed non-linear design. That’s my impression anyhow!
The only literary attention given to the carving seems to have been by the Scottish Royal Commission (1990) lads in one of their Perthshire inventories. It’s simple as always, telling basically,
“this heavily weathered cup-and-ring marked boulder lies 150m south of the hut circles… The carvings are on the southwest face of the boulder and comprise: at least four cups surrounded by single rings; two cups surrounded by triple rings; an oval cup measuring 100mm by 70mm surrounded by four rings; and twenty-two plain cups marks, the largest 60mm in diameter.”
If there’s anything extra that we should puzzle over, it’s this: why do we have such an intricate carving here, living in near isolation in the midst of countless other prehistoric remains? The answer, most likely, is that it’s not alone. I highly suspect that others are waiting to be found up here beneath the endless ocean of heather…
References:
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments of Scotland, North-East Perth: An Archaeological Landscape, HMSO: Edinburgh 1990.
Rediscovered in July 2023, on this small rock outcrop it seems that only the lower east section has been carved, and it can be pretty difficult to see beneath the old layers of lichen that’s been painted across its surface. Comprising of just four cup-marks close to each other on the top of the stone, there’s a possible fifth cup to be seen on its northeast length. It’s nowt special to look at to be honest, but it’s worth checking out when you’re looking at the others in this cluster. In truth, this is another that’s only gonna be of interest to the real geeks amongst you!
