neolithic – Page 8

Tobairandonaich, Strathtay, Aberfeldy, Perthshire

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Cup-Marked Stone (lost): OS Grid reference – NN 8866 5320

Also Known as:

Sunday Well
Tobar an Donich

Archaeology & History

Located some 30 yards south of a holy well known (in English language) as the Sunday Well, this carving was rediscovered shortly before John Dixon (1922) wrote his survey of petroglyphs in the Strathtay region. It would seem to have been a large “portable” cup-marked stone that had been placed, face-downward, into an old doorstep at the stable at Easter Tobairandonaich and forgotten about, long long ago. Then, at the beginning of the 20th century when the people living here had to clear a drain beneath the stable, the stone was moved and the cup-markings were noticed. The carving was a pretty simplistic design, as you can see, which was described by Mr Dixon as follows:

“The stone…has nineteen cups all on the same face. The largest cup is 3¾ inches in diameter and 2 inches deep. The next largest has the same diameter, but is 1½ inch deep. Other five of the cups are very nearly the same size. The smallest cup is 1¾ inch in diameter and ½ inch deep, but weathering has effected much towards almost obliterating some of the smaller cups. The stone is of whinstone with slight veins of quartz. It is oval in form and varies in thickness from 2½ inches to 4 inches. Its greatest diameter is 3 feet 2 inches, and its least diameter 2 feet 8 inches.”

The stone would seem to have disappeared as no one has seen it for fifty years or more. It may (hopefully) be in one of the walls, or perhaps buried somewhere under the soil. Or maybe, tragically, some fuckwit has destroyed it. Twouldst be good to find out one way or the other. The photograph above, taken by Mr Dixon sometime around 1920, is the only thing that remains of the carving.

In this small part of Strathtay we are fortunate in finding a cluster of petroglyphs with folklore about them relating to our faerie and witch folk. Some larger man-made stone “bowls” in the area were also used as “praying stones.” I have little doubt that the people who originally used this carving as a doorstep were fully aware of the cup-marks—and I’d suggest that they even put it here on purpose, probably as a form of protection from the fairies who might have stolen or caused sickness to the horses.

References:

Dixon, John H., “Cup-Marked Stones in Strathtay, Perthshire,” in Proceedings Society Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 56, 1922.
Kennedy, James, Folklore and Reminiscences of Strathtay and Grandtully, Munro Press: Perth 1927.
Yellowlees, Walter, Cupmarked Stones in Strathtay, Scotland Magazine: Edinburgh 2004.

Chalkwell Hall, Southend-on-Sea, Essex

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Tumulus (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – TQ 861 862

Archaeology & History

Somewhere beneath the modern housing estate immediately east of Chalkwell Park was once a large prehistoric burial mound. It was included in Wymer & Brown’s (1995) archaeological gazetteer (albeit at the wrong spot) without comment, but their reference led me to an early description of the place by Philip Benton (1867) whose description gave us the best info we have of the place. He wrote:

“To the east of the present mansion, at the north-west comer of a field called Fishponds, is a tumulus or mound, probably Celtic. This was first opened about thirty years ago, when bones, a few coins, and a piece of chain were discovered. Since which period about eight feet of earth has been removed from the summit, when more bones were found, but as they were not inspected by any one competent to give an opinion, it is impossible to say whether they were those of man or beast. The mound is still about four feet above the surrounding soil, and would probably repay further search.”

Wymer and Brown listed the site as being an “early Bronze Age” monument.

References:

Benton, Philip, The History of Rochford Hundred – volume 2, Harrington: Rochford 1867.
Wymer, J.J. & Brown, N.R., Excavations at North Shoebury, East Anglian Archaeology: Chelmsford 1995.

Hawksworth Spring (01), Hawksworth, West Yorkshire

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Cup-and-Ring Stone: OS Grid Reference – SE 15767 41195

Getting Here

Through Baildon town centre, take the road onto Baildon Moor, but instead of turning left up to Baildon Hill, keep straight on the Hawksworth road and 100 yards along you’ll see a car-park is on the right-hand side, just before you start going downhill. From here, walk down the road a couple of hundred yards until you see the footpath (keep your eyes peeled!) turning right towards The Whitehouse, and from there take the footpath dead straight down to the woods below. Cross the stream, turn right, then immediately left uphill by the wall-side. Shortly before reaching the top you’ll see a large triangular sloping slab of rock with a tree at its top. That’s it! Alternatively you can come via Hawksworth village by following the directions to the Hawksworth Spring (02) carving, which is just 10 yards east of this one. Easy!

Archaeology & History

This minimalist design is best seen from above the adjacent rock which, in times gone by, was attached to this very same stone. The main aspect of the carving are the two short rows of three cups, running almost alongside each other, in a likeness which my compatriot Liz Sykes said “was like some animal footprints.” It’s not a bad description to be honest (this same motif is found on a companion petroglyph just a few yards to the east: the Hawksworth Spring [2] stone). If you follow the direction of the “animal tracks” to the western end of the stone, you’ll see another isolated cup with a faint incomplete ring around it. You can just make it out on the photo to the right. Another single cup-mark seems apparent two-thirds the way down the stone.

References:

Hedges, John (ed.), The Carved Rocks on Rombalds Moor, WYMCC: Wakefield 1986.

Acknowledgements: Huge thanks to Liz Sykes for her renowned cleaning skills!

Raven Stones (east), Thruscross, North Yorkshire

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Cup-Marked Stone: OS Grid Reference – SE 12000 57932

Getting Here

Take the A59 road from Harrogate and Skipton and at the very top of the moors near the Gill Head Enclosures, take the small Kex Ghyll road up past the disused quarry works north for a mile or so. At the junction go left for about 1½ miles where, on your left, is Burnt House farm. A hundred yards past here is a small spot to park on the right-hand side of the road, opposite the gate to Rocking Hall House (make sure you leave enough room for tractors to pass you!). Across the road is the track to Rocking Hall and, 2 miles along the track, look out for the copse of trees ½-mile NE. Head towards it and, as you get close to the wall, walk slowly downhill towards the stream where a single block of stone lives. You’ll find it!

Archaeology & History

Rediscovered on Rocking Moor by Rod Chambers on August 15, 2023, this reasonably large sloping block of stone has between 21 and 24 cups cut quite deeply and scattered erratically into it, very similar to one some 200 yards to the northwest (Raven Stones carving 559). It seems pretty obvious that some of these cups were Nature’s handiwork, but have been modified by human hands. There’s nothing complex about it, but there may be a semi-circular arc around one of the cups, centre-left of the natural crack that cuts across the top of the stone, but this is very faint and could be just a trick of the eyes. Going there at sunrise and wetting the stone might tell us for sure.

Acknowledgements: Big thanks to Rod Chambers for use of his photo in this site profile.

Craig Hill cluster (5), Kenmore, Perthshire

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Cup-and-Ring Stone: OS Grid Reference – NN 81305 44422

Getting Here

From Kenmore go east up the steep mountain road towards Glen Quaich, or if you’re coming from Amulree, go west along the same glen. After 2½ miles (4km) up the Kenmore route (nearly 9 miles on the Amulree route) you’ll reach a small lochan on your left (you’ve got a very small parking spot a coupla hundred yards before the loch). A gate and stile past the loch takes you east along a track into the moors. More than a mile on, the track splits, but you need to keep to the left and follow the track along the wall-side for another 400 yards or so, where you’ll see a small crag of rocks 100 yards down the slope on your right. Once here, the deformed triangle-shaped stone to the left-side of the cluster is the one you’re looking for.

Archaeology & History

About four yards west of the Craig Hill cluster (3) carving, this gently smooth sloping rock was initially noted to have between six and seven cup-marks on it. Under the grey skies it was difficult to see any of this clearly, and so we wet the surface when Nature gave us some short bursts of light through the clouds which then enabled us to get a much better look at the design—but it’s still far from clear.

We found at least eight cups on here, two of which had single rings: the one near the top of the stone seems to be complete, whilst the other nearest the bottom of the stone looks to be incomplete. Another cup had a curious double ring; whilst the one nearest the middle of the stone has what may be three rings, with what could be a carved line running from its centre—but it’s very difficult to say with certainty until we’ve made another visit. I have little doubt that there’s more to this petroglyph than we could make out beneath the grey skies. On the west-side of the stone, the “curious” double-ring has, as its outer surround, an “eye” motif, or lozenge, which is also found on the Craig Hill cluster (3) stone a few steps away. The eye motif on both stones have the same levels of erosion and, I would suggest, were carved within a century or two of each other; perhaps even around the same time.

This one’s well worth checking out!

Acknowledgements: Huge thanks to Prof Paul Hornby for use of his photos in this site profile; and to Myrna Hurley for getting us up there. Cheers doods. 😉

Craig Hill cluster (3), Kenmore, Perthshire

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Cup-and-Ring Stone: OS Grid Reference – NN 81307 44419

Getting Here

From Kenmore go east up the steep mountain road towards Glen Quaich, or if you’re coming from Amulree, go west along the same glen. After 2½ miles (4km) up the Kenmore route (nearly 9 miles on the Amulree route) you’ll reach a small lochan on your left (you’ve got a very small parking spot a coupla hundred yards before the loch). A gate and stile past the loch takes you east along a track into the moors. More than a mile on, the track splits, but you need to keep to the left and follow the track along the wallside for another 400 yards or so, where you’ll see a small crag of rocks 100 yards down the slope on your right. That’s your target!

Archaeology & History

One of at least six rocks next to each other that possess cup-and-rings, this is the most notable of the bunch inasmuch as it’s the one that stands out above all the others. At first sight it doesn’t look impressive: a shallow scatter of nine or ten cup-marks can be seen when the light’s alright, but that’s about it. This is what George Currie (2005) noticed when he first came across it in 2004, describing it simply as “a boulder with 10 cups” a few yards away from one of it’s fellow petroglyphs (CR19, or the Craig Hill cluster-2 carving). But there’s much more to it than that. Unfortunately when we visited here, we weren’t blessed with good daylight, so were unable to get a decent appraisal of the entire design and have most probably missed some elements.

On the top sloping surface are six or seven cup-marks; another two or three are on a secondary lower level of the stone. Of those on the top, at least two of them have surrounding rings: one with a carved line coming out to the southeast; the other having a more extravagent appearance, surrounded by what looks like a secondary outer “oval”, or eye-shaped design. It’s ununsual. Other lines intersect these cup-and-rings, but it was difficult to say with any certainty whether they were Nature’s handiwork, or had been modified by humans. Below these on a slightly lower level are two or three single cup-marks, one of which, close to the edge of the rock, appears to have an incomplete ring round it—but this might have just been a trick of the light. Another visit is required for a better appraisal…

References:

Currie, George, “Craig Hill (Dull parish): Cup-and-Ring Marked Rocks,”in Discovery & Excavation Scotland, NS Volume 6, 2005.

Acknowledgements: Huge thanks to Prof Paul Hornby for use of his photos in this site profile; and to Myrna Hurley for getting us up there. Cheers doods. 😉

Balgay Hill, Dundee, Angus

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Cup-and-Ring Stone (removed): OS Grid Reference – NO 378 308

Archaeology & History

This little-known cup-and ring stone was found at ground level sometime around 2003, near the top of Balgay Hill. A small portable stone that may have been broken from a larger slab, it has what seems to be two if not three cup-and-rings, accompanied by two or three single cup-marks. One of the rings seems to have a faint line coming out of it. Unfortunately none of this is clear in the photos I took (the one attached here is the best), as it lives under glass in Dundee Museum, so it was very difficult to get decent images. It is now housed in the McManus Museum in Dundee (a damn good place, with very helpful staff) and well worth checking out if you’re in the area.

Finavon, Oathlaw, Angus

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Cup-and-Ring Stone (removed): OS Grid Reference – NO 5061 5565

Archaeology & History

Close to the western walls of the Finavon Iron Age hillfort this small (portable?) cup-and-ring stone was found at ground level in 1987. It was probably knowingly reused in the construction of the hillfort, but whether it was just deemed as an innocuous carving thrown into the mass, or whether it held a place of importance cannot be known.

The primary design consists of a cupmark surrounded by a double-ring, with a line coming out of the central cup towards the edge of the stone. The stone itself—measuring 12 inch by around 10 inch—has been cut from a larger piece, meaning the original design may have been larger. It is now housed in the McManus Museum in Dundee (a damn good place, with very helpful staff).

References:

Sherriff, John, “Prehistoric Rock-Carving in Angus,” in Tayside & Fife Archaeological Journal, volume 1, 1995.
Zealand, A., “Fanavon (Oathlaw Parish): Cup-and-Ring Stone,” in Discovery Excavation Scotland, CSA: Edinburgh 1988.

Beauly Avenue, Downfield, Dundee, Angus

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Cup-Marked Stone (lost): OS Grid Reference – NO 3975 3340

Also Known as:

Magdalen’s Kirkton Stone

Archaeology & History

In the mid-1890s, workmen ploughing one of the fields near the steading at Magdalen’s Kirkton farm hit a large stone beneath the soil. It turned out to be the covering stone of a prehistoric burial, or cist, that was aligned east-west. Whilst the remains in the cist had all but turned to dust, the covering stone had a number of cupmarks on it. It was described only briefly by R.N. Kerr (1896), who told that,

“The stone forming the lid of the cist is cup-marked. It weighs 5 cwt., 1 qr., 21½ lbs., and its thickness varies from 9 to 12 inches. There are 40 or more cup-markings on it, varying from 1 to 3 inches in diameter.”

It would seem that no sketches were made of this carving and I’ve been unable to find any more details about it. Help!

References:

Kerr, R. N., “Notice of a Burial Cist found on the Farm of Magdalen’s, Kirkton, on the Estate of Balmuir, near Dundee,” in Proceedings Society Antiquaries, Scotland, vol. 30, 1896.

Easter Coillechat, Kilmadock, Stirlingshire

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Cairn: OS Grid Reference – NN 68830 04347

Getting Here

From Doune, take the A84 road to Callander. As you pass through the hamlet of Buchany, keep your eyes peeled a few hundred yards on as the road dips down and swerves gently right, for the road sign of Drumloist (or Moist as some locals keep amending!) which goes up to the right. It’s a small single track road that zigs and zags slowly uphill. After exact one mile you reach a small track on your right (there one left too). Carefully park hereby (don’t block the gate!). Across the road, go through the gate on your right and walk along the edge of the field until you reach the burn. Go across it, and then across the field, through the gate and you’ll see it ahead of you. In the tick season (summer) treat the brackens as possessed by a plague and avoid it!

Archaeology & History

A curiously forgotten place, hidden from sight, this large rounded grass-covered mound with small upright stones around one side, seems timeless amidst the open fields. It seems alone, but the denuded chambered tomb of Ballachraggan is just visible 1.4 miles to the northwest on the near-horizon; and there’s a hidden cairnfield just a half-mile away. This cairn measures 18 yards (N-S) by 16 yards (E-W) and stands 7-8 feet high when you look at it from its southern side. The top of the mound is a mix of stone and grass with a slight dip in the middle, perhaps by someone in ages past digging, albeit only slightly—perhaps scared away by the old folk buried herein.

One of the most notable aspects of this site is the complete silence. On my last two visits hereby, a fusion of mists from the low cloud above and the breathing Earth below gave an atmosphere the likes of which lived when this tomb was first built. On one occasion hereby, no vehicles for several hours gave the silence a curious atmosphere (those of you who like sitting in the rain with the wilderness will know what I mean). To me this is a gorgeous site…