Rock Art - Cup & Ring Marks | Cairnbaan
Leacan nam Sluagh - The Stone of Hosting.
Footage of the western outcrop found at Cairnbaan.
The monument consists of prehistoric rock art carved on two areas of outcropping bedrock, about 100m apart. The area to the E contains three carved rock outcrops adjacent to each other, while the area to the W comprises a single, carved rock panel lying flush with the ground. The rock art was created probably in the early prehistoric period, between about 3500 BC and 2500 BC. The monument lies at around 60m above sea level on relatively flat ground part way up slopes that form the W side of the valley of the Badden Burn. Today the rock outcrops lie in thinned plantation woodland, but originally (in the absence of trees) this site would have offered views to Lochgilphead and the sea to the SE, over Crinan Moss, and to the valley bottom to the S where Cairnbaan lies today.
The rock outcrops form two groups, which differ in style. The easternmost comprises three substantial outcrops, adjacent to each other and now enclosed by metal railings. The largest decorated rock panel measures approximately 8m by 2m. It is decorated with a pair of cups surrounded by three partial rings, one cup with two rings, three cups within a single ring, sixteen single cups with single rings, at least sixty plain cups, and several lengths of grooving. A particular feature of this sheet is the long gutters that run downslope from seven of the cups at the S end of the outcrop. The other two outcrops measure 3.5m by 2m and 2.6m by 2m. Their carvings comprise mainly plain cupmarks: six on the outcrop towards the centre of the enclosure; and three cups with double rings and six plain cups on the outcrop at the NW of the enclosure. The panel located around 100m to the W measures 2m by 3m and is not enclosed by railings. It is decorated with a complex series of markings, the most distinctive of which are a number of conjoined multiple-ringed cups. Six of these are surrounded by four rings, one by three rings, seven by two rings, and eight by single rings; several of the ringed cups have gutters. There are also at least fifteen plain cups and stretches of wandering grooves. At the bottom right of the outcrop is a badly weathered, unusual carving, consisting of a broad shallow cup surrounded by a single ring, which is linked to the cup by a series of rays.
The area to be scheduled consists of two distinct polygons. The easternmost is a trapezium shape on plan and contains the area enclosed by the metal railings and 15m beyond the railings on all sides. The second is a circle, 20m in diameter, centred on the westernmost outcrop. These areas include the remains described above and an area around them within which evidence relating to the monument's construction, use and abandonment may survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. The scheduled area specifically excludes the above-ground elements of the metal railings and interpretation board to allow for their maintenance.
Other carved rock outcrops around Kilmartin Glen include:
Ballygowan
Baluachraig
Achnabreac
Kilmichael Glassary
Other monuments include:
Dùn Ad Hill Fort
Dunchraigaig Cairn
Glebe Cairn
Nether Largie North Cairn
Nether Largie Mid Cairn
Nether Largie South Cairn
Ri-Cruin Cairn
Temple Wood Stone Circle
Soundtrack: Dál - August Wind (soundcloud.com/dalcelticmusic)
Achnabreck Rock Carvings, Part 1, Kilmartin, Scotland.
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ACHNABRECK
ROCK ART, PART 1
LOCHGILPHEAD
ARGYLL & BUTE
SCOTLAND
ACHNABRECK IS THE BEST LOCATION IN THE UK FOR ANCIENT ROCK CARVINGS. THE LANDSCAPE AROUND KILMARTIN IS LITTERED WITH ENIGMATIC PETROGLYPHS, INTRICATELY CARVED ONTO EXPOSED, ROCK OUTCROPS.
ACHNABRECK IS TWO MILES NORTH OF LOCHGILPHEAD AND JUST PAST CAIRNBANN. IT IS SIGNPOSTED FROM THE A83 ROAD AND IN THE CARE OF HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT SCOTLAND. THE SITE IS ON A PATH LEADING INTO THE UPLANDS. WIDE VIEWS CAN BE SEEN TO LOCH GILP. THE DESIGNS MAY BE SYMBOLIC OF A SACRED LOCATION.
A 30M BY 60M FENCED AREA CONTAINS THREE ROCK OUTCROPS. (A BEING THE LOWER PANEL, B THE MIDDLE OUTCROP AND C, AS THE HIGHEST PANEL). THESE ARE THE MOST EXTENSIVE PETROGLYPHS IN BRITAIN. OUR ANCESTORS FROM 3000BC CREATED THESE SYMBOLS WITH SOME BEING 1M IN SIZE.
(PANEL A) HAS EIGHTY THREE SYMBOLS ON ITS LARGE ROCK SHEET. A FURTHER ONE HUNDRED GLYPHS ARE ON THE UPPER TWO OUTCROPS. THE ACHNABRECK DESIGNS ARE QUITE STRAIGHT FORWARD. MANY CUP MARKS ARE ENCASED BY ONE OR MULTIPLE RINGS. SOME CUPS HAVE CHANNELS KNOWN AS GUTTERS RADIATING FROM THE CENTRE.
VARIOUS PEOPLE WORKED AND REWORKED THE PETROGLYPHS. EARLIER HOLLOWS WERE LATER SURROUNDED BY RINGS. SOME CIRCLES WERE PECKED OUT TO TOUCH OLDER GLYPHS. THE LONG GUTTERS GO THROUGH EARLIER CIRCLES WITH SOME LINKING TWO OR MORE SETS OF CUP AND RINGS TOGETHER. AT LEAST ONE SET OF CUP AND RINGS APPEAR TO HAVE BEEN PECKED OVER IN AN EFFORT TO IT BEING ERASED.
THE MOFTIS WERE LIKELY CARVED AT DIFFERENT TIMES BY VARIOUS PEOPLE. THE FRAGILE SURFACES ARE FULL OF FISSURES AND CRACKS. SOME OF THE GLYPHS RUN PARALLEL TO THESE NATURAL LINES, OTHERS ARE BISECT BY THEM.
(PANEL B) IS THE MIDDLE OUTCROP AND HAS A ONE METER LONG CARVING. A FEW THEORIES FOR THE ROCK ART IS, SPERM ENTERING AN EGG, VESSELS TO CAPTURE BLOOD OF SACRIFICIAL VICTIMS, OR A TYPE OF GAME TO PLAY MARBLES. ALONG THE ATLANTIC COAST, FROM SCOTLAND TO PORTUGAL, SIMILAR DESIGNS CAN BE FOUND. THIS SUGGESTS A SHARED KNOWLEDGE.
ARGYLL FOLKLORE IN THE 1800’S THOUGHT THE CUP AND RING DESIGNS WERE HOOF PRINTS. SIR JAMES YOUNG SIMPSON (A DOCTOR), MADE THE FIRST MODERN STUDY OF ACHNABRECK IN THE 1860’S. HE UNDER TOOK A GROUND BREAKING STUDY OF ROCK ART IN SCOTLAND. ACHNABRECK HAS NO HUMAN OR ANIMAL CARVINGS.
(PANEL C) IS THE HIGHEST ROCK SURFACE. HERE IS A UNIQUE ‘HORNED SPIRAL’ MOTIF. THIS DESIGN HAS BEEN FOUND IN PASSAGE TOMBS IN ORKNEY AND IRELAND’S. BOYNE VALLEY. KILMARTIN IS SITUATED BETWEEN THESE GREAT NEOLITHIC HUBS. FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS THE KILMICHAEL FOREST HAS PROVIDED FOR PEOPLE. WHEN THE ICE AGE ENDED THE ATLANTIC OAKWOODS BEGUN SPREADING. THE AREA IS NOW A PRECIOUS RELIC.
A LOCAL WOMEN FOUND A PREVIOUSLY UNRECORDED, ELABORATELY CARVED, OUTCROP, NEAR HERE IN 2008. A STORM CAUSED TREES TO FALL AND EXPOSED THE PANEL. ARCHAEOLOGISTS AND VOLUNTEERS HAVE FOUND LOTS OF ROCK ART SITES AROUND THE GLEN.
A BIG THANK YOU TO OUR ANCIENT ANCESTORS.
Achnabreck Rock Carvings, Part 2, Kilmartin, Scotland.
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ACHNABRECK
ROCK ART, PART 2
LOCHGILPHEAD
ARGYLL & BUTE
SCOTLAND
ONE HUNDERED AND FIFTY METERS FROM THE MAIN ACHNABRECK ENCLOSURE IS A SECOND SITE. JUST A FEW MILES NORTH OF LOCHGILPHEAD AND A SHORT WALK INTO KILMICHAEL FOREST, IS THE MOST CELEBRATED PREHISTORIC, ROCK CARVINGS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. THE SITE OFFERS BEAUTIFUL SOUTHERN SCENERY TOWARDS LOCH GILP.
THIS FENCED OFF AREA HAS SIXTY THREE MOTIFS WITH AT LEAST FIFTEEN MULTIPLE RINGS, ONE IS A FIVE RING SYMBOL. OUR NEOLITHIC ANCESTORS, CREATED CARVED CIRCULAR SHAPES ON EXPOSED ROCK SURFACES. INTENTIONALLY OR UNINTENTIONALLY THE ROCK CARVINGS HAVE LASTED FIVE MILLENIA.
THE ANCIENT INHABITANTS OF ARGYLL AND BUTE LEFT BEHING A VAST MEGALITHIC LEGACY FROM DEEP ANTIQUITY. THEY USED STANDING STONES AND NATURAL OUTCROPS AND DECORATED THEM WITH PECULIAR CIRCULAR DESIGNS.
THE BEST TIME TO VIEW THE GLYPHS IS WHEN THE SUN IS LOW OR WHEN WET AFTER RAIN FALL. ONE HUNDRED ROCK ART SITES ARE WITHIN A FEW MILES OF ACHNABRECK.
THE PETROGLYPHS SEEM TO BE LOCATED AT PROMINENT LOCATIONS IN THE LANDSCAPE. ARCHAEOLOGISTS FIND COMPLICATED GLYPHS APPEAR AT IMPORTANT LOCATIONS ON THE LAND, LIKE BOUNDARIES AND ROUTES.
HUGO ANDERSON-WHYMARK, A RESEARCHER. CARVED OUT HOLLOWS AND FOUND IT TOOK HIM BETWEEN HALF AN HOUR AND ONE AND A HALF HOURS. HIS TOOLS WERE HAMMERSTONES MADE OF QUARTZ. THESE SAME TOOLS WERE FOUND DURING EXCAVATION, TWO AND A HALF MILES AWAY, AT TORBHLAREN ROCK ART SITE.
THEORIES ARE RIFE ON THE MEANING OF THE SYMBOLS. A FEW EXAMPLES ARE STAR MAPS OR VESSELS FOR CASTING AND MIXING BRONZE. OTHER ROCK ART SITES CLOSE BY WITH PUBLIC ACCESS, ARE CAIRNBANN, KILMICHAEL GLASSERY AND BALUACHRAIG. THE ANCIENT SEAT OF THE SCOTTISH KINGS IS AT DUNADD FORT WHICH IS ALSO VERY NEAR BY.
A QUOTE FROM HEHAKA SAPA, A NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN, SAYS’
“THE POWER OF THE WORLD ALWAYS WORKS IN CIRCLES, AND EVERYTHING TRIES TO BE ROUND. IN THE OLD DAYS … ALL OUR POWER CAME TO US FROM THE SACRED HOOP OF THE NATION AND SO LONG AS THE HOOP WAS UNBROKEN THE PEOPLE FLOURISHED.”
HEHAKA SAPA, NORTH AMERICAN OGLALA SIOUX.
A BIG THANK YOU TO OUR ANCIENT ANCESTORS.
Cairnbaan Rock Art, Part 2, Kilmartin, Scotland.
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CAIRNBAAN
ROCK ART, PART 2
LOCHGILPHEAD
ARGYLL & BUTE
SCOTLAND
CLOSE TO THE FAMOUS ACHNABRECK ROCK ART AND A FEW MILES FROM LOCHGILPHEAD IS CAIRNBAAN INSCRIBED ROCKS. HERE IS TWO SITES BOTH IN THE CARE OF HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT SCOTLAND. THE BEST TIME TO VIEW THE GLYPHS IS WHEN THE SUN IS SETTING LOW.
ONE HUNDERED METERS FROM THE ENCLOSED SITE IS AN EXTREMELY WELL PRESERVE ROCK SHEET. THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST OUTCROPS TO VIEW ANCIENT GLYPHS NOT ONLY IN THE KILMARTIN AREA BUT SCOTLAND. STRANGELY THIS EXPOSED ROCK IS NOT ENCLOSED.
THE PETROGLYPHS ARE VERY CLEAR. TWENTY NINE DESIGN SYMBOLS WERE CARVED ONTO A ROCK PANEL. FROM THIS LOCATION IS BEAUTIFUL VIEWS TO A ONCE IMPORTANT ROUTE INTO KILMARTIN GLEN. EXPANSIVE LANDSCAPE VIEWS FROM ROCK ART SITES IS A COMMON THEME.
THE LARGE MOTIFS SEEM TO BE IN CLUSTERS OF THREE, HERE WE ALSO HAVE INTERLOCKING, CONJOINED DESIGNS WHICH IS UNUSUAL. AT ACHNABRECK THE CARVINGS ONLY SLIGHTLY TOUCH. THERE IS ALSO A POSSIBLE STAR DESIGN. KILMARTIN HAS THE DENSEST AREA IN THE UK FOR ANCIENT PETROGLYPHS.
THESE ENIGMATIC GLYPHS ARE THOUGHT TO BE FIVE THOUSAND YEARS OLD. YOU CAN ALSO FIND SIMILAR CARVINGS ON STANDING STONES AT BALLYMEANOCH AND THE GREAT X OF KILMARTIN. BOTH THESE SITES ARE NOT FAR AWAY.
THEORIES ON THE MEANING OF THE CARVINGS ARE IMAGES OF RIPPLES MADE BY RAIN DROPS, OR A MONUMENT TO COMMEMORATE THE DEAD. IN 1830, ARCHIBALD CURRIE, A SCHOOL MASTER WAS THE FIRST TO WRITE ABOUT THE CAIRNBAAN ROCK ART. HIS THEORY WAS THE CIRCLES MAY REPRESENT ORBITS OF PLANETS, AROUND THE SUN.
SIMILAIR DESIGNS ARE FOUND ALONG THE ATLANTIC FRINGE. OUR ANCESTORS IN THE KILMARTIN AREA, WERE BUSY CREATING STRUCTURES WHICH STILL EXSIST AND WE CAN VISIT IN THE PRESENT DAY. CHECK OUT AUTHOR DAVID COWAN, WHO HAS DONE FASCINATING RESEARCH INTO ROCK ART IN THE PERTH AND KINROSS AREA.
A BIG THANKS TO OUR ANCIENT ANCESTORS.
Prehistoric Rock Art, Achnabreck, KIlmartin, Scotland
One of the best such sites in Britain. An outcrop of ice-smoothed rock which features many carvings the most prevalent of which is a cup at the centre of concentric rings, with the cup acting as a centre for radial grooves and ducts that generally follow the rock downhill.
Cairnbaan Rock Art, Part 1, Kilmartin, Scotland.
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CAIRNBAAN
ROCK ART, PART 1
LOCHGILPHEAD
ARGYLL & BUTE
SCOTLAND
CAIRNBAAN IS YET ANOTHER MUST VISIT PETROGLYPH SITE IN THE KILMARTIN AREA. THE OUTCROPS ARE SITUATED A FEW MILES NORTH OF LOCHGILPHEAD. THE ACCESS ROUTE IS DIRECTLY NEXT TO THE CAIRNBAAN HOTEL, THEN A THREE QUARTER OF A MILE WALK TO THE FIRST EXPOSED ROCK.
THREE ROCK SHEETS ARE INSIDE A FENCED ENCLOSURE. THESE MOTIFS HAVE A SIMPLE DESIGN OF MOSTLY CUP MARKS. THE GLYPHS WERE CREATED BY THE NEOLITHIC PEOPLE FROM AROUND FIVE THOUSAND YEARS AGO. THE CARVINGS HERE ARE DIFFICULT TO MAKE OUT.
AT LEAST SIXTY SIX SYMBOLS HAVE BEEN COUNTED, WITH A PROMINENT CLUSTER OF AROUND FIFTEEN CUPS NEAR THE CENTRE. OUR ANCESTORS MAY HAVE DELIBERATELY CHOSEN ROCK OUTCROPS WITH NATURAL CRACKS AND FISSURES.
THE MAIN PANEL HAS THE SINGLE CUP AS THE DOMINANT MOTIF. THERE ARE A FEW KEYHOLE DESIGNS WHICH ARE ALSO FOUND AT KILMICHAEL GLASSARY. AN UNUSUAL FEATURE IS TWO CUPS SURROUNDED BY ONE RING. THE TWO CUPS HAVE GUTTERS FLOWING FROM THE CENTRE AND ENDING AT A NATURAL FISSURE.
THERE IS ALSO ONE DOUBLE RINGED CUP. ONE GUTTER CUTS THROUGH TWO FISSURES. LOOKING CLOSELY AT THE MAIN OUTCROP SEEMS TO REVEAL FIVE CLUSTERS OF FOUR OR FIVE CUPS.
FROM CAIRNBAAN IS BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPE VIEWS OVER ARGYLL AND BUTE. ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS MAY HAVE PLAYED A PART IN THE CREATION AND PLACEMENT OF THESE ENIGMATIC SYMBOLS.
PROFESSOR ALEXANDER THOM, THE SCOTTISH ARCHAEOASTRONOMER, CAME ACROSS CUP AND RING CARVINGS AT MANY MEGALITHIC SITES. HE FOUND A UNIT OF MEASUREMENT IN THE GLYPHS HE CALLED ‘THE MEGALITHIC INCH’.
A FEW THEORIES FOR THE GLYPHS IS AN OPTIMISTICALLY CARVED SUNDIAL, MARKS LEFT BY PEOPLE SEARCHING FOR FOOD AND EACH RING REPRESENTING A LEADER’S SEXUAL CONQUEST.
PHYSICIAN TO QUEEN VICTORIA, SIR JAMES YOUNG SIMPSON, VISITED BRITISH ROCK ART SITES, INCLUDING CAIRNBAAN IN 1867. HE SAID ‘THEY ALL EVIDENTLY INDICATE WHEREVER FOUND, A COMMON THOUGHT OF SOME COMMON ORIGIN, BELONGING TO A COMMON PEOPLE.
ONE HUNDRED METERS BEHIND THE FIRST ENCLOSURE IS A FORTH AND UNFENCED OUTCROP. THIS ROCK SHEET CONTAINS SOME OF THE BEST CUP AND RING MARKINGS IN SCOTLAND. A GOOD TIME TO VIEW THE CARVINGS IS WHEN WET AFTER RAINFALL.
A BIG THANKS TO OUR ANCIENT ANCESTORS.
Ballymeanoch Standing Stones, Kilmartin, Scotland.
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BALLYMEANOCH
STANDING STONES
KILMARTIN
ARGYLL & BUTE
SCOTLAND
INTRO
A FEW MILES NORTH OF LOCHGILPHEAD AND VISIBLE FROM THE A816 ROAD IS THE BALLYMEANOCH STANDING STONES. THESE BEAUTIFUL MEGALITHS ARE A VERY IMPORTANT JEWEL IN KILMARTIN’S PREHISTORIC CROWN. SITUATED IN THE HEART OF AN ANCIENT CEREMONIAL LANDSCAPE, THIS AREA WAS SO IMPORTANT TO THE PREHISTORIC PEOPLE IN THE KILMARTIN ENVIRONS AND BEYOND.
AT BALLYMEANOCH WE HAVE SIX STANDING STONES, DIVIDED INTO A ROW OF TWO AND A ROW OF FOUR, 40M APART. THESE ROWS ARE ORIENTATED TOWARDS KEY LUNAR AND SOLAR EVENTS. TESTAMENT TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF COSMIC RHYTHMS HELD BY OUR ANCIENT ANCESTORS.
IT IS POSSIBLE THE STANDING STONES STOOD AT THE END OF A PROCESSIONAL AVENUE WHICH APPROACHED FROM THE SOUTH EAST.
TWO STONES & HOLED STONE.
THIS TWO STONE ROW IS IN LINE TO THE MIDSUMMER MOST SOUTHERNLY MOON RISE. THE TALLEST STONE ON THE SOUTH ARC IS 3M HIGH WHILE THE ADJACENT NORTH MEGALITH IS 2.7M HIGH.
A HOLED STONE ONCE STOOD TO THE EAST, IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY. IN 1943 A STORM CAUSED THIS MEGALITH TO FALL, IT NOW LIES BESIDE THE NEARBY KERB CAIRN. THE BASE WAS REMOVED AND EXCAVATED IN 1977.
BENETH THE STONE WAS THREE PORTIONS OF HUMAN CREMATED BONE, RADIOCARBON DATED TO BETWEEN 3370-3050 YEARS AGO. THE CREMATION LAY IN A PIT THAT SUPPORTED THE MEGALITH.
LOCAL TRADITION HAD THESE HOLED STONES AS A WAY TO SEAL DEALS OR A PROMISE TO MARRIAGE. ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF A HOLED STONE CAN BE FOUND NEAR TORHOUSE STONE CIRCLE IN DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY.
FOUR STONES
OUR ANCESTORS ALIGNED THE FOUR STONE ROW TO THE WINTER SOLSTICE SUNRISE. THIS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT SOLAR EVENT FALLS ON DECEMBER 21ST OR 22ND. THE EAST FACE OF THE TWO MIDDLE STONES ARE HEAVILY CUP MARKED. THESE MEGALITHS MAY HAVE COME FROM A MUCH EARLIER DECORATED OUTCROP LIKE ACHNABRECK, THEN TRANSPORTED HERE AS BELIEFS CHANGED OVER TIME.
THE FOUR STONE SETTING, RISES IN HEIGHT FROM THE SOUTH EAST TO NORTH EAST. THE HIGHEST MEGALITH IN THE SOUTH IS JUST OVER 4M HIGH WITH THE SMALLEST IN THE NORTH ARC BEING 2.75M. NOTICE HOW THE FOUR STONES RISE IN HEIGHT LIKE THE HILL IN THE BACKGROUND.
OTHER INFO
A SHORT WALK FROM THE STONES WILL TAKE YOU TO A HENGE, A KERBED CAIRN, A CHAMBERED CAIRN AND ROCK ART. THE SITES IN THIS LOCATION ARE BETWEEN 4200-3200 YEARS OLD MAKING THESE CONSTRUCTS, NEOLITHIC AND BRONZE AGE. THE NAME BALLYMEANOCH TRANSLATES FROM SCOTS GAELIC AS ‘MIDDLE SETTLEMENT’.
A BIG THANK YOU TO OUR ANCIENT ANCESTORS.
Kilmartin to Oban, along the historic road 28/05/2017
Kilmartin Glen is an area in Argyll not far from Kintyre, which has one of the most important concentrations of Neolithic and Bronze Age remains in Scotland. The glen is located between Oban and Lochgilphead, surrounding the village of Kilmartin.
There are more than 350 ancient monuments within a six-mile radius of the village, with 150 of them being prehistoric. Monuments include standing stones, a henge monument, numerous cists, and a linear cemetery comprising five burial cairns. Several of these, as well as many natural rocks, are decorated with cup and ring marks.
The remains of the fortress of the Scots at Dunadd, a royal centre of Dal Riata, are located to the south of the glen, on the edge of the Moine Mhòr or Great Moss. The Kilmartin House Museum of Ancient Culture is located within the village itself, and aims to interpret the rich history of the glen.
Kilmartin Parish Church is a congregation of the Church of Scotland. The present church building was designed by architect James Gordon Davis and opened in 1835, though there had been earlier churches on the site. The churchyard has an important collection of early Christian and medieval carved stones, known as the Kilmartin Stones. Some are displayed within the parish church itself, others have been gathered into lapidaria within the graveyard, others still remain lying within it.
The two most important monuments are the Kilmartin crosses, one 9th-10th century, the other late medieval in date, within the church. In the churchyard are a large collection of late medieval gravestones in the 'West Highland' style, dating between the 14th and early 16th centuries. Many are marked by figures of warriors in contemporary dress with spears and swords, along with figures of fantastic animals, foliage and interlace patterns. None are inscribed, so the identities of the persons commemorated are unknown. They can, however, be taken to be the monuments of the local landowning or minor noble class in late medieval times. Kilmartin Church was evidently an important burial site, and the graveslabs of the 'Loch Awe school' of carving may have been carved in a workshop at or near Kilmartin. The swords shown on many of the stones refer to warrior (or, more broadly, social) status, and have no connection with the Templars or other medieval military orders, as is sometimes suggested. Women are commemorated on some of the stones, their symbol often being the shears (referring to household activities).
Achnabreac Neolithic Rock Art
Kilmichael Glassary Inscribed Rocks, Kilmartin, Scotland.
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KILMICHAEL GLASSARY
ROCK ART
ARGYLL & BUTE
SCOTLAND
AT THE ENTRANCE TO KILMARTIN GLEN, IS KILMICHAEL GLASSARY. HERE IS A ROCK OUTCROP WITH ONE HUNDERED AND FIFTY MOTIFS CARVED ONTO THE NATURAL ROCK SURFACE. THIS IS JUST ONE OF MANY PREHISTORIC ROCK CARVING SITES IN THE KILMARTIN AREA.
THE OUTCROP IS SITUATED BETWEEN LOCHGILPHEAD AND KILMARTIN, OFF THE A83 ROAD, JUST PAST BRIDGEND. KILMICHAEL GLASSARY IS A VERY SMALL VILLAGE. THE SITE IS IN THE CARE OF HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT SCOTLAND, IT IS SIGNPOSTED AND PROTECTED BY A FENCE.
IT IS THOUGHT THE BRONZE AGE PEOPLE OF ARGYLL AND BUTE CREATED THESE ENIGMATIC SYMBOLS AROUND 2800-2000 YEARS AGO. THE SURFACE IS WELL PRESERVED AND HAS LOTS OF CRACKS AND FISSURES. THESE NATURAL LINES SEEM TO HAVE BEEN TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT WHEN THE GLYPHS WERE CAREFULLY CARVED.
THE ROCK PANNEL IS DENSLY DECORATED WITH CARVINGS UNIQUE AMONG THE KILMARTIN SITES. THERE ARE SEVERAL KEYHOLE LIKE DESIGNS WHICH ARE NOT FOUND ELSEWHERE IN THE AREA. THESE KEYHOLE DESIGNS MAY SYMBOLISE THE FEMALE VULVA.
THERE ARE MOSTLY COMMON CUP MARKS. FIVE OF THESE ARE SURROUNDED BY A SINGLE RING. THERE ARE NO RECOGNISABLE HUMAN OR ANIMAL DESIGNS. THE PETROGLYPHS APPEAR SURREAL AND ABSTRACT.
HAMMER STONES MADE OF QUARTZ MAY HAVE BEEN USED BY OUR PREHISTORIC ANCESTORS TO PAINSTAKINGLY PECK THE DESIGNS. A GREENISH GLOW EMITS FROM QUARTZ WHEN STRUCK. THERE WAS EVIDENCE NEARBY AT TORBHLAREN DURING EXCAVATION, THAT QUARTZ WAS SMASHED POSSIBLY DURING CEREMONIES.
THESE ANCIENT SYMBOLS CAN BE FOUND IN THE UNITED KINGDOM FROM NORTH ENGLAND UP TO SCOTLAND. THE KILMARTIN AREA IS THE BEST LOCATION IN THE UK FOR PREHISTORIC ROCK CARVINGS.
THE DESIGNS MUST HAVE BEEN VERY IMPORTANT TO THE PREHISTORIC PEOPLE OF NORTHERN BRITIAN, ESPECIALLY THE ABUNDANCE AND SIZE OF THE DESIGNS IN THE KILMARTIN AREA.
MANY MANY THEORIES HAVE BEEN PUT FORWARD FOR THE MEANING OF THESE DESIGNS. A FEW EXAMPLES BEING A WAY OF COMMUNICATING WITH THE OTHERWORLD, MAPS OR EVEN LANGUAGE.
A BIG THANK YOU TO OUR ANCIENT ANCESTORS.
Townhead Rock Art, Kirkcudbright, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland.
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TOWNHEAD
ROCK ART
KIRKCUDBRIGHT
DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY
SCOTLAND
A FEW MILES SOUTH OF KIRKCUDBRIGHT AND JUST OFF THE A711 ROAD IS TOWNHEAD ROCK ART SITE. TOWNHEAD, ALSO KNOWN AS GRANGE HILL, IS NOT AS WELL KNOWN AS THE NEARBY HIGH BANKS ROCK ART.
A TRIANGULAR SHAPED, ROCK OUTCROP HAS FASCINATING, ABSTRACT & PROMINENT CARVINGS. THESE GLYPHS MUST HAVE BEEN VERY IMPORTANT TO OUR ANCIENT ANCESTORS.
THE MAIN FEATURE ON THE PANEL IS A CUP & RING SURROUNDED BY A FURTHER THREE BROKEN RINGS. TWO OF THESE RINGS ARE JOINED BY A GUTTER OR CHANNEL RADIATING FROM THE CENTRAL CUP MARK. SOME OF THESE CHANNELS CONTINUE INTO NATURAL DEPRESSIONS ON THE ROCK.
YOU CAN ALSO SEE SINGLE CUP MARKS ENCLOSED BY DOUBLE RINGS. DOUBLE CUPS ENCLOSED BY A SINGLE RING AND TWO CUPS ENCLOSED BY A FIGURE OF EIGHT. THERE IS ALSO A CLUSTER OF FOUR CUPS WITH ONE BEING ENCLOSED BY A SEMI RING.
WHATEVER THE MEANING OF THESE PETROGLYPHS, IS LONG LONG FORGOTTEN. HOWEVER THEY MUST HAVE HAD SPECIAL SIGNIFICANCE TO THE ANCIENT PEOPLE WHO INHABITED SW SCOTLAND.
Nether Largie Standing Stones, Kilmartin, Scotland.
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NETHER LARGIE
STANDING STONES
KILMARTIN
ARGYLL & BUTE
SCOTLAND
INTRO
THE NETHER LARGIE STANDING STONES WERE QUOTED BY ALEXANDER THOM, AS THE ‘MOST IMPORTANT LUNAR OBSERVATORY IN BRITAIN’. SITUATED SOUTH OF KILMARTIN, AT THE BOTTOM OF THE ONE MILE LINE OF BURIAL CAIRNS. THE MEGALITHS ARE IN THE CARE OF HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT SCOTLAND AND PARKING IS PROVIDED AT LADY GLASSERY WOOD.
OVER VIEW
FIVE BEAUTIFUL MEGALITHS MAKE UP THE X SHAPED NETHER LARGIE STANDING STONES SITE. TO THE SOUTH IS A SET OF MEGALITHS WHICH RESEMBLE A GATEWAY. AS YOU WALK NORTH YOU WILL COME TO A SMALL, BOX SHAPED, FOUR STONE SETTING.
JUST BEYOND THIS IS A SECOND FOUR STONE SETTING WHICH CONTAINS THE CENTRAL MEGALITH. THIS STANDING STONE IS COVERED IN ANCIENT CUP MARKS THAT RESEMBLE CIRCULAR DEPRESSIONS, THREE CUPS ARE ENCLOSED BY A RING.
IN THE YOUTUBE DOCUMENTARY ‘CRACKING THE STONE AGE CODE’ THERE IS FOOTAGE OF ARCHAEOASTRONOMER ALEXANDER THOM, AT THE CENTRAL MEGALITH EXPLAINING THE TOP OF THE STONE POINTS TO A NOTCH IN THE HILL WHERE THE MOON SETS AT THE NORTH WEST ON ITS MOST NORTHERN EXTREME POSITION.
PROFESSOR THOM ALSO FOUND ALIGNMENTS WITH THE STONES AND THE NEARBY TEMPLE WOOD CIRCLES. THE NETHER LARGIE MEGALITHS NO DOUBT HOLD MANY MORE SECRETS WHICH WILL HOPEFULLY COME TO FUTURE LIGHT.
IN RECENT YEARS ANALYSIS SUPPORTS THE THEORY THE MEGALITHS WERE POSITIONED TO LUNAR RISE AND SETS AT IMPORTANT TIMES IN ITS 18.61 YEAR CYCLE. AS YOU WALK NORTH, BEYOND THE CENTRAL STONE IS ANOTHER PAIR OF BEAUTIFUL MEGALITHS.
STONES
OUR ANCIENT ANCESTORS ALIGNED THESE 3M HIGH MEGALITHS TO THE EQUINOXES WHICH FALL ON MARCH 20TH AND SEPTEMBER 23RD. THIS IS THE TIME OF YEAR WHEN NIGHT AND DAY ARE AT EQUAL LENGTH.
THERE IS ALSO AN ALIGNMENT TO THE WINTER SOLSTICE SUNRISE (THIS ALSO HAPPENS AT THE NEARBY BALLYMEANOCH STONES) THIS DATE FALLS ON DECEMBER 21ST. THIS IS THE DARKEST DAY OF THE YEAR.
THESE SOLSTICES AND EQUINOX EVENTS WERE OF UPMOST IMPORTANCE TO OUR ANCIENT ANCESTORS. THEY WERE NO DOUBT SKILLED IN LEARNING THE NATURAL MOVEMENTS OF THE CELESTIAL BODIES.
OUR ANCIENT PREDECESSORS WOULD HAVE CAREFULLY CHOSEN THIS LOCATION ON KILMARTIN GLEN FOR ITS LANDSCAPE AND OBSERVATION FEATURES.
A SMALL OUTLINER STONE CAN BE SEEN ONE HUNDERED METERS TO THE NORTH. ANOTHER OUTLINER ONCE STOOD TO THE WEST, THREE HUNDERED METERS AWAY WHICH IS NO LONGER VISIBLE.
OTHER INFO
IT IS THOUGHT THE STANDING STONES WERE ERECTED ABOUT 1,200BC WHICH WOULD MAKE THEM BRONZE AGE. THE CENTRAL STONE CUP MARKS ARE THOUGHT TO BE OLDER BY 1,500 YEARS, WHICH MAY INDICATE THE STANDING STONE WAS ORIGINALLY PART OF A DECORATED OUTCROP LIKE CAIRNBANN IN ITS ORIGINAL INCARNATION.
NETHER LARGIE SOUTH IS VISIBLE FROM THE STONES. A PLEASANT DAY OUT CAN BE HAD IN KILMARTIN GLEN WALKING UP THE LINER CEMETERY VISITING THE CAIRNS AND FINISHING AT KILMARTIN MUSEUM. THERE IS ALSO AN ABUNDANCE OF ROCK ART TO VIEW AT ACHNABRECK.
A BIG THANK YOU TO OUR ANCIENT ANCESTORS.