Rock Art Database

CAIRNHOLY 5

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Canmore ID 63728 SCRAP ID 2159
Location OS Grid Ref: NX 51621 54804 Team Not in team
Existing Classifications
Classification Period
CUP AND RING MARKED ROCK PREHISTORIC
Date Fieldwork Started 10/09/2019 Date Fieldwork Completed
New Panel? No  

Section A. CORE INFORMATION

A1. Identifiers

Panel Name CAIRNHOLY Number 5
Other names
HER/SMR MDG3328
SM Number Other
Classifications And Periods
Classification 1 Cup And Ring Marked Stone Period 1 Neol/bronze Age
County
KIRKUDBRIGHTSHIRE

A2. Grid Reference(original find site)

OS NGR NX 51610 54800
New OS NGR NX 51621 54804
Lat/Long 54.86594 -4.31353
Obtained By: GPS

A3. Current Location & Provenance

Located
  • At original location
Accession no. Not given

Section B. CONTEXT

B1. Landscape Context

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

B2. Current land use & vegetation

  • Rough Grazing

B3. Forestry

  • No selection

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

  • Other rock art

B5. Location Notes

Located towards the upper end of a large field used for grazing, approximately 100m S of the N field wall (which runs E-W), 100m from the field gate in the dyke to the E, and Cairnholy 7 (ScRAP ID: 3235) which slightly lies to the E of this wall. This panel lies approximately half way between this field gate and one to the W at the opposite side of the field, just to the S of a track. Cairnholy 8 (ScRAP ID: 1090; Canmore ID: 77510) lies approximately 90m to the S, past a mound of stones (likely a large clearance cairn) c. 60m to the SSE. The ruined remains of Balmacrail (Canmore ID: 90249) lies c. 90m to the NW.

Previous Notes

NX55SW 30 5161 5480. NX 515 547. Cup-and-ring marks are carved on a smallish flat rock, easy to miss, 50yds N of NX55SW 29. The marks comprise 3 faint cups and one ring; rubbing shows 4 concentric rings in one case. In 1912 there were 3 cup marks, each surrounded by 3 or 4 rings, each figure measuring some 10" in diameter. RCAHMS 1914, visited 1912; R W B Morris and D C Bailey 1967 Not located. Visited by OS (RD) 29 February 1972 In a stony area 230.0m north-north-east of (NX55SW 29), 145.0m west of a field wall and 110.0m south of another wall is a smooth flat topped greywacke slab 1.5m by 0.5m. On its upper surface are the markings noted by RCAHMS. Information from R W B Morris MS., January 1977 NX 5162 5480. The slab, as described, is very worn but the three cup marks are still traceable. Two of these cups each have a single ring but the four concentric rings could not be identified. Surveyed at 1:2500. Visited by OS (MJF) 7 July 1977 The stone bearing these markings is in a pasture field 75m SSE of a ruined building (NX55SW 72). On its upper surface, which measures 1.6m NE-SW by 0.6m transversely, there are four cups, each with one ring, the largest having a diameter of 180mm. The largest cup measures 50mm in diameter and about 10mm in depth. (Cree94 305) Visited by RCAHMS (SDB) 28 April 1994 Van Hoek describes eight cups in all, two with a single ring, one with up to three rings and two with four rings each, the latter two being 350mm in diameter. Naddair identifies twenty cups, one with a single ring, one with two rings, two with four rings each, and a more complex figure consisting of two cups, having one and two rings, all enclosed within a double ring. M A M Van Hoek 1995, K Naddair 1995.

Section C. PANEL

C1. Panel Type

In the landscape Boulder/Slab

C2. Panel Dimensions, Slope & Orientation

Dimensions of panel (m to one decimal place)
Length (longer axis) 1.6 Width 0.6
Height (max) 0.3 Height (min) 0.2
Approximate slope of carved surface
3 degrees 7 degrees
Orientation (Aspect e.g. NW)
Rock Surface SW Carved Surface SW Carved Surface

C3. Rock Surface

Surface Compactness Hard Grain Size Medium Visible Anomalies No selection Rock Type Greywacke

C4. Surface Features

  • Fissures/cracks

C5. Panel Notes

The panel is a long, oblong shape running broadly N-S down the slope of the field. It measures 1.6 x 0.6m and rises to 0.3m at its heighest. Both ends of the panel are slightly raised above the level of the ground. The panel has a flat surface sloping slightly towards the SW with fissures crossing it at its S (lower) end. The main motifs are towards the centre and comprise a cup-and-four rings, the third of which is possibly only partial and the outermost of which is truncated by the edge of the panel. There is a further cup-and-two complete rings, with a third, partial ring, a large cup with a complete ring and a partial possible second ring, a cup with a possible partial ring, and a further possible individual cupmark. The surface is exposed to the air, and quite heavily eroded.

C6. Probability

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

Comments

The single cupmark may be natural

C7. MOTIFS

Cupmark
cupmark_1
1
Cup and Rings
cup_and_ring_2
1
Partial Ring
partial_ring_arc_3
1
Other Ring
other_ring_2 other_ring_4
2 1

Visible Tool Marks? No

Visible Peck Marks? No

Section D. ACCESS, AWARENESS & RISK

D1. Access

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

D2. Awareness

  • This panel is known to others in the local community.
There are stories or folk traditions associated with this panel No

D3. Risk

Natural
  • No selection
Animal
  • There are sheep near the rock.
Human
  • No selection
Comments and other potential threats

No comments added