Tag: neolithic

Ballykean (Penrose) (8), County Wicklow

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Cup-Marked Stone (lost):  OS Grid Reference – SG 21537 42375

Also Known as:

  1. Ballykean ‘Stone F’ (Kinihan 1884)

Archaeology & History

Kinihan’s 1884 rubbing of the stone

This is one of at least fourteen petroglyphs in this parish that have been either lost or destroyed since their initial description in the 19th century.  It was described in George Kinihan’s (1884) survey as being, “a slightly dome-shaped stone, its surface being nearly level with that of the ground.  The cups are both numerous and deep…although bits of the surface have been flaked off by fire.”  He took a rubbing of the stone which showed nineteen cup-marks on its upper surface.  When the Archaeological Survey of Ireland looked for the carving in 1990 it could not be located; and when Christiaan Corlett (2014) described this and the other carvings in this cluster, he thought that a group of stones dumped “in a hollow area north of the field” might possibly be where it had been moved to—although no such carvings have been identified there.

References:

  1. Corlett, Christiaan, Inscribing the Landscape: The Rock Art of South Leinster, Wordwell: Dublin 2014.
  2. Kinihan, George H., “Proceedings: Cup-marked and Inscribed Stones in the Counties of Wicklow and Wexford”, in Journal Royal Society Antiquaries Ireland, (4th series) volume 6, 1884.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Kilmichael Beg, Kilmichael Glassary, Argyll

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Standing Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NR 95279 93418

Getting Here

Kilmichael Beg monolith

Along the A83 road, 2.6 miles (4.2km) south of Minard and/or 2.7 miles (4.4km) north of Lochgair village, an all-but-hidden parking area is on the east side of the road at the edge of the trees.  Go in here and park up.  Roughly halfway along where the track bends and set back against the fencing, you’ll see this obvious standing stone hiding away.  If you visit this place in the summer months, it will be very hard to see. (in the event that you have the time and cutting ingredients, it’d be good to clear the stone from the undergrowth so it can be seen clearly)

Archaeology & History

Kilmichael Beg, looking E

Set back into the undergrowth of brambles and other spiney vegetation is this little-known standing stone, some four feet tall, that was converted for use as a gatepost at the end of the 19th century.  It is said to have once been on the other side of the road before it was used in the line of fencing, when the metal rod coming out of the crown of the stone was inserted.  The monolith is very worn and eroded on all sides, showing great age—seeming to affirm the local tradition of its antiquity.  If anyone has any further information about this stone, please let us know.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Dunruchan Hill, Muthill, Perthshire

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Cairnfield:  OS Grid Reference – NN 790 168 (centred)

Getting Here

Cairn NE of Dunruchan ‘E’

Simply follow the directions to reach the Dunruchan monoliths ‘D’ and ‘E’ and then zigzag through the heather to their immediate south—from just a few dozen yards away, to up to 300 yards west.  Keep your eyes peeled for the stoney little rises in the heather as you walk back and forth and you’ll see at least some of these cairns.

Archaeology & History

Not to be confused with the large cairn scatter on the grassy plain of Aodann Mhor a short distance north-west (whereon stands the magisterial Dunruchan A monolith), many of which which may be just field clearance cairns.  This small group found a short distance east, south and west of Dunruchan stones ‘D’ and ‘E’ are more typical burial cairns.  They each average between five and six yards across and none are more than three feet high.  We first noticed them about ten years ago and on subsequent visits kept looking them over, but the deep heather ensured they were hard to see.  But, after a recent heather-burning exercise on the moors, they are at thankfully visible—for a short time at least.

Cairn SE of Dunruchan ‘D’
Cairn S of Dunruchan ‘D’

At the time of writing, probably the best one to see is found 40 yards south of Dunruchan D and 47 yards north-east of Dunruchan E and may have the astronomers amongst you running for the theodolites!  It has that distinct look about it when you see it in context with the landscape and adjacent standing stones.  The westernmost cairn that’s (presently) known here is 300 yards west of the Dunruchan E stone, just past the Dunruchan enclosure, at NN 7873 1676.  It’s likely that there are other unrecorded prehistoric sites in this area.

Low line of ancient walling

Amidst this section of the moors is a line of very low walling that runs a short distance east-to-west, towards the Dunruchan ‘E’ stone.  A lot of old walling exists hereby, mainly visible in the fields to the east, but this particular line is much smaller and of a different age by the look of things, presumably older.  It has the appearance of walling more usually associated with prehistoric hut circles, but in this case runs in a straight line towards the standing stone.  Curious…

Folklore

The standing stones on this plain and the cairns here are said to be the graves of fallen Roman soldiers, slain by our tribal Scots two thousand years ago.  In all honesty though, these are likely to be much older than any of those Roman savages.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Dunruchan ‘F’, Muthill, Perthshire

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Standing Stone (lost):  OS Grid Reference – NN 795 168

Archaeology & History

When Fred Coles (1911) visited the giant impressive Dunruchan standing stones, he told that “some distance to the east” of the Dunruchan E stone, “near the unnamed stream…my friend Mr James Simpson has seen another great Stone, but lying prostrate.”  When he visited the area the weather beat him back (easily done up here!) and prevented him “from wandering far over the moor, and therefore this Stone was not observed.”  It remains lost.  (the grid-reference given for this site is an approximation)

References:

  1. Coles, Fred, “Report on Stone Circles Surveyed in Perthshire, Principally Strathearn,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 45, 1911.
  2. Finlayson, Andrew, The Stones of Strathearn, One Tree Island: Comrie 2010.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Ballykean (Penrose) (14), County Wicklow

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Cup-Marked Stone (lost):  OS Grid Reference – SG 21640 43035

Also Known as:

  1. Ballykean Stone A (Kinihan 1884)

Archaeology & History

Kinihan’s rubbing of the stone

This is one of at least fourteen petroglyphs in this parish that have been either lost or destroyed since their initial description in the 19th century.  First noticed by a Mr Hugh Jones of Ballykean House, it was the northernmost carving in the cluster.  When the Archaeological Survey of Ireland looked for the carving in 1990 it could not be located—although they did note a stone of similar size in the field boundary to the north-east, but could find no cup-marks on it.

Ballykean (14 ) stone

When George Kinihan (1884) described the stone, he told it to be a block of granite, “about 5 feet by 5.3 feet, and standing 3.3 feet high” in a field known as the Fort Field (although there are no remains of a fort here).  Kinihan took a rubbing of the carving, which highlighted eleven cup-marks on its upper surface, as illustrated here.  More recently, in Corlett’s (2014) rock art survey, he told that there were “several large dumps of granite boulders” north of the field and wondered whether these might be where this, and the other stones, had been moved.  Does anyone know…?

References:

  1. Corlett, Christiaan, Inscribing the Landscape: The Rock Art of South Leinster, Wordwell: Dublin 2014.
  2. Kinihan, George H., “Proceedings: Cup-marked and Inscribed Stones in the Counties of Wicklow and Wexford”, in Journal Royal Society Antiquaries Ireland, (4th series) volume 6, 1884.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Ballykean (Penrose) (2), County Wicklow

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Cup-Marked Stone (lost):  OS Grid Reference – SG 21584 42230

Also Known as:

  1. Ballykean ‘Stone M’ (Kinihan 1884)

Archaeology & History

Ballykean (2) or “Stone M”

This is one of at least fourteen petroglyphs in this parish that have been either lost or destroyed since their initial description in the 19th century.  When the Archaeological Survey of Ireland looked for this carving in 1990, it could not be located.  It was first described by George Kinihan (1884), who told that it was, a “block about 6 by 5.5 feet, and 2.25 feet high.  The upper surface has eight cups, two of which are joined by a channel.”  The site was included in Corlett’s (2014) fine survey, who could add no additional data about the stone.

References:

  1. Corlett, Christiaan, Inscribing the Landscape: The Rock Art of South Leinster, Wordwell: Dublin 2014.
  2. Kinihan, George H., “Proceedings: Cup-marked and Inscribed Stones in the Counties of Wicklow and Wexford”, in Journal Royal Society Antiquaries Ireland, (4th series) volume 6, 1884.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Ballykean (Penrose) (1), County Wicklow

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Cup-Marked Stone (lost):  OS Grid Reference – SG 21648 42072

Also Known as:

  1. Ballykean ‘Stone N’ (Kinihan 1884)

Archaeology & History

This is one of at least fourteen petroglyphs in this parish that have been either lost or destroyed since their initial description in the 19th century.  The carving was, wrote Kinahan (1884) in his day, “in the field south of Ballykean House.” But when the Archaeological Survey of Ireland looked for the stone in 1990, it could not be located.  Kinihan told that it was,

“a large flattish stone, which slopes SW.  On the SW surface near the top margin is one cup.  In the vicinity of this block there are others, but on none of them were cups remarked.  Most of these have been split, while others are said to have been broken up to build Ballykean House, with the farm buildings and walls.”

References:

  1. Kinihan, George H., “Proceedings: Cup-marked and Inscribed Stones in the Counties of Wicklow and Wexford”, in Journal Royal Society Antiquaries Ireland, (4th series) volume 6, 1884.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Druim na Cille, Comrie, Perthshire

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Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NN 73838 24299

Getting Here

Cupmarks at Druim na Kill

Along the A85 road between Comrie and St Fillans, just over a mile out of Comrie, on the right-hand side (north) of the road is the small farm-track into the fields where the ruined stone circle of Tullybannocher lives.  Walk up this track (known as Maam Road), past the stones, and keep going uphill for more than a mile (literally 1 mile up, another track turns sheer right, but ignore it) where the track eventually levels-out; keep walking for another 600 yards, slightly downhill, until you reach a distinct fork in the track where you need to veer right, uphill, and keep walking up the track for ⅔-mile (1km) where you’ll eventually see a cottage ahead of you.  150 yards before this, to your left, down the slight slope and just as it begins to slope back up again on the other side, there’s some olde walling with a coupla big stones in it.  It’s there!

Archaeology & History

When James MacIntosh (1888) first visited this carving in the 19th century—which is close to the curious cairn of Druim na Cille just 75 yards to the west—he described there being a group of seven large stones forming, what he thought, might have been a large enclosure.  I think he was right.  Several of these stones can still be seen: each of them along some ancient walling that swerves in an arc to the east. One of these stones has a number of cup-marks on it.

Fred Coles’ 1991 sketch
The carving, from the track

The design isn’t too impressive when compared to others in this neck o’ the woods, but they’re very distinct.  We visited the place on a truly dark grey day: conditions that don’t usually allow for good visibility regarding cup-marks; but thankfully the cups along this stone are quite deep and hard to miss.  Running along one section of the stone are what Gow called, “eleven beautifully formed cups, varying from 2¼ to 4 inches in diameter and from half an inch to an inch in depth.”  When Fred Coles (1911) came here he counted thirteen cup-marks.  There may be fourteen.

The stone does possess some more recent groove marks made by a metal instrument, possibly a tractor or perhaps when local workmen stuck up a microwave tower close by.  Thankfully it hasn’t directly affected the cups on the stone.  Check it out when you visit the nearby ring cairn.

References:

  1. Coles, Fred, “Report on Stone Circles Surveyed in Perthshire, Principally Strathearn,” in Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 45, 1911.
  2. Gow, James M., “Notes near St Fillans: Cup-Marked Stones, Old Burying Ground at Kindrochet and Drumnakill”,  Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, volume 22, 1888.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Chestnut Cottage, Tugby, Leicestershire

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Cup-Marked Stone (missing):  OS Grid Reference – SK 7618 0095

Archaeology & History

P.M.Vine’s 1982 sketch

In this neck o’ the woods, cup-marked stones are very rare.  This one was described in Phil Vine’s (1982) regional archaeology survey as consisting of eight cup-marks on a piece of stone three-feet across.  The carving, he told, could be found outside of a “former blacksmith’s shop, immediately south of Chestnut Cottage”, but was removed some time ago and is now in “private possession.”  Very little else seems to be known about it and there are no other prehistoric sites in close attendance that could help us contextualise it (eg, hut circles, cairns, standing stones, etc).  It was mentioned in passing in Gwilym Hughes’ (2000) short piece on the Netherfield cup-marked stone 25 miles to the north-west, but he doesn’t appear to have seen it in the flesh, so to speak.  So what has become of it…?

References:

  1. Hughes, Gwilym, “The Cup Marked Stone,” in The Lockington Gold Hoard, Oxford 2000.
  2. Vine, Philip M., The Neolithic and Bronze Age Cultures of the Middle and Upper Trent Basin, BAR: Oxford 1982.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Witherley Hall, Witherley, Leicestershire

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Cup-Marked Stone (lost):  OS Grid Reference – SP 3245 9752

Archaeology & History

Witherley’s cup-marked stone (P.M.Vine 1982)

In his survey of prehistoric sites in the Trent basin area, archaeologist Philip Vine (1982) described a cup-marked stone that was “found in a rockery at Witherley Hall, formerly the Rectory, during the 1970s… along with medieval stone work of the chancel of the village church.”  Two distinct cup-markings that he described as “deepish” had been carved into a large ‘portable’ stone of coarse-grained diorite rock, measuring 53 by 51 cm — making it somewhat larger than your standard portable.  It looks like it may have come from a cairn (was there one nearby?).  Vine told that the carving was held in “private possession.”  What has become of it…?

References:

  1. Vine, Philip M., The Neolithic and Bronze Age Cultures of the Middle and Upper Trent Basin, BAR: Oxford 1982.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian