Rock Art Database

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Section A. CORE INFORMATION

A1. Identifiers

Classifications And Periods

County

AYRSHIRE

A2. Grid Reference(original find site)

A3. Current Location & Provenance

Section B. CONTEXT

B1. Landscape Context

B2. Current land use & vegetation

• Rough Grazing

B3. Forestry

• No selection

B4. Archaeological Features within 200m / or visible from the panel

• Other rock art
• Field System
• Settlement
• Burial Mound/Cairn
• Enclosure

B5. Location Notes

The panel is situated on a hillside with a SE aspect beside a stone dyke which runs from the NE to the SW. The panel is reported to continue under the dyke to the SE but is currently covered with turf. A track runs along the opposite side of the dyke from the panel. The panel lies within an area of rough grass but is surrounded by several conifer plantations with new planting taking place. It is possible that the Firth of Clyde and Arran were visible to the west but there is a forestry plantation in the way today. The panel is situated approximately 200m N of an enclosure marked on the OS map (Canmore ID 41010). A cup and ring marked stone (Canmore ID 41022), currently in the Hunterian Museum, was found 30m ESE of the panel.

Previous Notes

NS24NW 19 2310 4834. (NS 2310 4834) Cup and Ring marked Rock (NR) OS 6" map (1970) This area of rock, measuring 45ft in length by 19ft broad at one end, and 3ft broad at the other, is sculptured with over 300 cup marks, and a variety of cup-and-rings, spirals, and other marks. Parts of shale rings were found by Boyd when cleaning soil from crevices in the rock. Two-thirds of one ring, measuring 5 1/2ins in external diameter and 5/8ins thick, with a perforation 1 1/2ins in diameter, was donated by him to the NMAS (Acc. No. FN 155). D Boyd and J Smith 1887; Proc Soc Antiq Scot 1927 Only the eastern portion, measuring 5.2m E-W by 3.2m N-S, of this cup and ring marked rock is now visible, the remainder being turf-covered. On the exposed part are several cup marks, two being connected by a groove, and three ring marks, which though much weathered are still identifiable. Visited by OS (DS) 7 September 1956 Parts of this rock are still turf-covered. R W B Morris and D C Bailey 1967 Since the last reports this much weathered rock has been fenced off and de-turfed, so that its appearance and dimensions are roughly as stated; only some detail along the southern strip of the rock remains obscured. Adjacent to the SE limit of this rock, on the other side of a field wall, is another flat rock surface (exposed area roughly 5 by 2m) bearing at least two cup marks, 3 to 5 cms in diameter. Resurveyed at 1:2500. Visited by OS (JRL) 10 November 1982

This site was included within the RCAHMS Emergency Survey (1942-3), an unpublished rescue project. Site descriptions, organised by county, vary from short notes to lengthy and full descriptions and are available to view online with contemporary sketches and photographs. The original typescripts, manuscripts, notebooks and photographs can also be consulted in the RCAHMS Search Room. Information from RCAHMS (GFG) 10 December 2014.

A desk-based assessment and reconnaissance field survey have been carried out for the Proposed Development Site. Seventeen cultural heritage assets (sites and features) have been identified within the Proposed Development Site. These range in date from the early prehistoric (Neolithic/Bronze Age) to the post-medieval period and include a well-preserved cup and ring marked rock, which is a Scheduled Monument, several prehistoric artefact find-spots, a possible prehistoric enclosure and later post-medieval settlement and agrarian activity. Funder: Community Windpower Ltd. CFA Archaeology Ltd

Section C. PANEL

C1. Panel Type

C2. Panel Dimensions, Slope & Orientation

C3. Rock Surface

C4. Surface Features

• Fissures/cracks
• Natural Hollows
• Bedding Planes
• Rough surface

C5. Panel Notes

The exposed area of the panel exposed measures 11.8 x 5.6m and is flush with the surrounding grass. Its long axis lies NE-SW. It is made of sandstone and there are quartz pebbles included in it. There are numerous fissures which appear to have been used to demarcate the areas of rock art. The panel is heavily eroded. There are 12 cups with 1 ring, 3 cups with partial rings, 6 cups with 2 rings, 3 spirals and 154 cupmarks (one with a radial) visible on the 3D models. A radial from a cupmark joins at right angles to a radial from a cup with 2 partial rings. The 3 spirals are on a sloping piece of rock unlike the other motifs. They are not normally visible in daylight but appeared clearly in the 3D model. 3D models were built for the areas of the panel that were depicted in figures 10 to 26 of Smith's 1895 book, as well as for the entire panel, which was depicted in the plan by Smith in Boyd and Smith (1887). Comparison of the original plan and individual figures with the 3D models show both the accuracy of the plan and figures, and also how much has been lost through weathering in the last 134 or so years. Most of the radials and a large number of rings and cups recorded by Smith are no longer visible. In particular, the motifs in figures 21, 23 and 25 are no longer visible. Some of the 'hoof-markings' mentioned by Smith are still visible but it is unclear now if they were designed as such. References Boyd, D.A. and Smith, J. (1887) 'Notice of a rock surface with cup-marks and other sculpturings, at Blackshaw, West Kilbride, Ayrshire', Proc Soc Antiq Scot, vol. 21, 1886-7. Page(s) 143-151 Smith, J. (1895) Prehistoric Man in Ayrshire

C6. Probability

The probability that there is any rock art on the panel is Definite

Comments

27 cupmarks were added after looking at the 3D model.

C7. MOTIFS

Visible Tool Marks? Yes

Visible Peck Marks? No

Section D. ACCESS, AWARENESS & RISK

D1. Access

• Right to Roam access.
• Panel is on Private land.

D2. Awareness

• Panel was known before the project.
• This panel is known to others in the local community.

There are stories or folk traditions associated with this panel No

D3. Risk

Natural

• Large areas of the rock are covered in lichen, moss or algae.
• Water will pool deeply on parts of the surface.

Animal

Human

• There is graffiti (paintings and/or carving) on or near the rock.
• There are quarries nearby.
• The rock is located on/nearby a path or place where people might walk.

Comments and other potential threats

Erosion of the rock panel since the Smith plan in 1887. Forestry operations are taking place near the site. The path of a vehicle right beside the panel can be seen in the drone photos.