Rock Art Database - Scotland's Rock Art Project

BALUACHRAIG 1

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Canmore ID

39453

SCRAP ID

270

Location OS Grid Ref:

NR 83122 96959

Team

Not in team

Existing Classifications

Classification	Period
CUP AND RING MARKED ROCK	PREHISTORIC

Date Fieldwork Started	27/02/2019	Date Fieldwork Completed
New Panel?	No

Section A. CORE INFORMATION

A1. Identifiers

Panel Name	BALUACHRAIG		Number	1
Other names	Baluachraig A
HER/SMR		SM Number	SM90026	Other	PIC

Classifications And Periods

Classification 1

Cup And Ring Marked Rock

Period 1

Neol/bronze Age

County

ARGYLL

A2. Grid Reference(original find site)

OS NGR	NR	83126	96966
New OS NGR	NR	83122	96959
Lat/Long	56.11597	-5.49015
Obtained By:	GPS

A3. Current Location & Provenance

Located	At original location
Accession no.	Not given

Section B. CONTEXT

B1. Landscape Context

Weather	Sunny
Position in landscape	Hillside
Topography(terrain within about 500m of panel.)	Sloping
Aspect of slope (if on sloping terrain e.g. S, SE etc.)	SW

B2. Current land use & vegetation

Improved Pasture
Conservation

Other:Property in care

B3. Forestry

No selection

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

Other rock art
Burial Mound/Cairn

B5. Location Notes

Located on the side of a gently SW sloping field within a fenced area built to enclose the rock art sites, with open views to the SW, SE and NW along the Kilmartin Glen. A dedicated pathway leads from the northern side of the enclosure around Dunchragaig cairn, along the W side of the main road and then W into the area of conservation. The site is well maintained by the local Historic Environment Scotland conservation team, who clean the panels annually, and an interpretation panel is available on site. There are three rock art sites within the enclosed area: this record, Baluachraig 1, is the largest and most intensely decorated. Baluachraig 2 is located just to the north, approximately 2.5m distance; Baluachraig 3 is located to the west approximately 10m distance.

Previous Notes

"NR89NW 13 8312 9696. (NR 8312 9697) Cup and ring marked rock. The surface bearing the principal sculptures is 10' square, and within a radius of 12 yds are two or three isolated patches of rock with a few cups and rings. (Information from G E Livock, July 1940) J R Allen 1882; M Campbell and M Sandeman 1964 There are three flat rocks within a fenced area. 'A' measures 8.9m x 2.2m and is as illustrated. 'B' measures 1.8m in diameter and bears 6 cups and 1 cup and ring. 'C' measures 2.4m x 1.7m and bears 1 cup and 1 cup and ring. Surveyed at 1:2500. Visited by OS (IA) 2 May 1973 'A' bears approx 80 cup and 20 cup-and-ring marks and 'B' bears 7 cups. The ring mentioned by OS (IA) was not evident. Surveyed at 1/10,000. Visited by OS (TRG) 1 April 1977 Situated within a protective enclosure in a pasture field 230 m NW of Dunchraigaig cairn (No.48), there are three cup-and-ring marked rock outcrops (Campbell and Sandeman 1964). (1) The largest and most profusely decorated rock-sheet "

NR89NW 13 8312 9696. (NR 8312 9697) Cup and ring marked rock. The surface bearing the principal sculptures is 10' square, and within a radius of 12 yds are two or three isolated patches of rock with a few cups and rings. (Information from G E Livock, July 1940) J R Allen 1882; M Campbell and M Sandeman 1964 There are three flat rocks within a fenced area. 'A' measures 8.9m x 2.2m and is as illustrated. 'B' measures 1.8m in diameter and bears 6 cups and 1 cup and ring. 'C' measures 2.4m x 1.7m and bears 1 cup and 1 cup and ring. Surveyed at 1:2500. Visited by OS (IA) 2 May 1973 'A' bears approx 80 cup and 20 cup-and-ring marks and 'B' bears 7 cups. The ring mentioned by OS (IA) was not evident. Surveyed at 1/10,000. Visited by OS (TRG) 1 April 1977 Situated within a protective enclosure in a pasture field 230 m NW of Dunchraigaig cairn (No.48), there are three cup-and-ring marked rock outcrops (Campbell and Sandeman 1964). (1) The largest and most profusely decorated rock-sheet bears some seventeen cups with double rings, fifteen cups with single rings, and at least 127 plain cupmarks. (2) To the W of (1) there is an outcrop on which there are ten plain cupmarks. (3) On an outcrop N of (1) there is one cup with single ring and a plain cupmark. Visited June 1985 RCAHMS 1988

Section C. PANEL

C1. Panel Type

In the landscape

Outcrop

C2. Panel Dimensions, Slope & Orientation

Dimensions of panel (m to one decimal place)

Length (longer axis)	8.5	Width	4.2
Height (max)	0.3	Height (min)	0

Approximate slope of carved surface

degrees

Orientation (Aspect e.g. NW)

Rock Surface

ESE

Carved Surface

Flat

Carved Surface

ESE

C3. Rock Surface

Surface Compactness

Hard

Grain Size

Medium

Visible Anomalies

No selection

Rock Type

Limestone

C4. Surface Features

Fissures/cracks
Natural Hollows

C5. Panel Notes

A long, triangular panel, with it's widest section in the S, measures 8.5x4.2m, and has been extensively decorated with cup and cup and ring motifs. A total of 124 cup marks, 7 cup and complete single ring, 6 cup and partial single ring, 8 cup and complete double rings, 5 cup and partial double rings, 2 cup with a complete inner and partial outer rings, 1 large cup with a single complete ring, 1 cup with two complete rings with an extending tail from the outer ring, 1 cup and two complete rings with a tail extending from the inner to the outer ring, 1 cup with a tail and two large oval shaped cup marks were recorded across the surface of the panel. The majority of the motifs are located beneath a section of the outcrop which is rougher in texture, except for 7 of the cup marks, the large cup with a single complete ring, 1 of the cups with complete double rings and the cup with two complete rings with a tail extending from the inner to the outer ring which are located at the N end of the panel. above the area of rougher rock. The surface of the rock has numerous fissures and cracks; the motifs appear to compliment and interplay with these natural features.