Nether Largie Mid Cairn, Kilmartin, Scotland.
A Journey Through Scotland's Ancient Sites
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NETHER LARGIE
MID CAIRN
KILMARTIN
ARGYLL & BUTE
SCOTLAND
NETHER LARGIE MID CAIRN, IS THE HEART OF THE LINEAR CEMETERY ON KILMARTIN GLEN. FIVE CAIRNS OUT OF SIX PRESENTLY REMAIN. THIS LOCATION ON THE WEST COAST IS NOT JUST AN IMPORTANT SCOTTISH PREHISTORIC AREA, BUT ONE OF THE FINEST IN EUROPE. KILMARTIN VALLEY IS A MUST VISIT FOR ANY LEVEL OF HISTORIAN. THE CAIRNS ARE IN THE CARE OF HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT SCOTLAND.
WITHIN A SIX MILE AREA IS MORE THAN EIGHT HUNDRED ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES, KILMARTIN MUSEUMS SURVEY WORK, HAS HELPED IDENTIFY THESE FEATURES. OUR NEOLITHIC AND BRONZE AGE ANCESTORS WERE EXTREMELY BUSY CREATING, ROCK ART, STANDING STONES, STONE CIRCLES AND CAIRNS IN THIS LANDSCAPE WHICH THEY HELD DEAR.
WHEN THE NEOLITHIC AND BRONZE AGE FINISHED THE CLIMATE BECAME COOL AND WET. THE KILMARTIN VALLEY AND ITS PREHISTORIC REMAINS WERE BLANKETED WITH PEAT UNTIL THE 1800S (LIKE CALLANISH ON THE ISLE OF LEWIS). VAST QUANTITIES OF PEAT HAD BEEN STRIPPED AWAY FOR FARMING AND FULE, THIS IS WHEN THE CAIRNS CAME TO LIGHT.
MOST OF THE CAIRNS WERE DEPLETED BY STONE REMOVAL FOR ROADS, DYKES AND FIELD DRAINS. SOME OF THE NETHER LARGIE MID CAIRN MATERIAL WAS LOST TO THIS. PRESENTLY THE CAIRN IS 1M, HIGH ORIGINALLY IT WOULD HAVE BEEN 3M. A CAIRN ONCE EXISTED BETWEEN NETHER LARGIE MID AND SOUTH, WHICH WAS COMPLETELY DESTROYED IN THE 1880S.
FROM NETHER LARGIE MID IS THE BEST VIEWING LOCATION OF THE 1.5 MILE LONG LINER CEMETERY, WHICH WAS IN USE FROM 3000BC TO 1500BC. TO THE SOUTH IS NETHER LARGIE SOUTH WHICH IS THE OLDEST CAIRN AND RI CRUIN. TO THE NORTH IS NETHER LARGIE NORTH AND GLEB CAIRN, WHICH IS SITUATED BESIDE KILMARTIN MUSEUM.
THE CIST IN THE SOUTHERN ARC IS INTERESTING AS IT HAS A FAINT AXE HEAD CARVING AND A SINGLE CUP MARK, ON ONE OF THE END SLABS. IT IS THOUGHT THESE AXE CARVING REPRESENT A PERSON OF WEALTH, WHO POSSIBLY WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN THE MOVEMENT OF METAL FROM IRELAND THROUGH KILMARTIN, UP TO THE NORTH EAST OF SCOTLAND’S BRONZE WORK CENTRES.
BETTER EXAMPLES OF AXE CARVINGS CAN BE SEEN AT RI CRUIN. CUP MARK DESIGNS ARE MORE CLEAR AT NETHER LARGIE NORTH. THE SOUTH CIST CAPSTONE IS NOW SUPPORTED BY MODERN STEEL BARS TO ALLOW VIEWING INTO THE INTERIOR. A NORTH ARC CIST EXISTED, BUT WAS REMOVED AND IS NOW MARKED BY SHORT CONCRETE POSTS.
IN 1929 AN EXCAVATION TOOK PLACE BY JAMES HEWAT CRAW AN ARCHAEOLOGIST. HE FOUND TWO EMPTY CISTS BELOW THE BRONZE AGE CAIRN. THE ACIDIC SOIL HAD DISSOLVED THE BODIES. EACH CIST HAD BEEN DESIGNED TO BURY AN ELITE INDIVIDUAL, 4000 YEARS AGO. THE CAIRN HAS A DIAMETER OF 33M WITH THE OUTER KERB STONES MOST NOTICEABLE, IN THE SOUTH ARC.
INSIDE THE CAIRN BODY A STONE WITH FIVE CUP MARKS WAS FOUND. IN THE 1990S AN AVENUE OF HUGE WOODEN POSTS WERE DISCOVERED WHICH DATED TO 3,700BC. A TIMBER CIRCLE WAS ALSO FOUND WHICH WAS BRONZE AGE. BOTH THESE DISCOVERIES WERE FOUND AT THE GRAVEL TERRACE, AT UPPER LARGIE, WHICH OVERLOOKS THE GLEB CAIRN. THIS SITE WAS THEN QUARRIED AWAY.
A BIG THANKS TO OUR ANCIENT ANCESTORS.
Dunadd Fort
Dunadd Fort is an ancient hill fort in Kilmartin Glen, Argyll. It's the capital of the ancient kingdom of Dalriada, or Dal Riada. It was also where the kings of Dalriada were crowned. The views from the top of Dunadd are breath taking. It's not far from Kilmartin village, and it overlooks much of Kilmartin Glen and the archaeology that fills it.
Nether Largie Standing Stones, Kilmartin, Scotland.
A Journey Through Scotland's Ancient Sites
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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.
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)