Rock Art Database

KILMICHAEL GLASSARY 1

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Canmore ID 39541 SCRAP ID 2373
Location OS Grid Ref: NR 85787 93476 Team Not in team
Existing Classifications
Classification Period
CUP AND RING MARKED ROCK PREHISTORIC
Date Fieldwork Started 23/07/2019 Date Fieldwork Completed
New Panel? No  

Section A. CORE INFORMATION

A1. Identifiers

Panel Name KILMICHAEL GLASSARY Number 1
Other names
HER/SMR SM Number SM90184 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 85790 93490
New OS NGR NR 85787 93476
Lat/Long 56.08594 -5.44457
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.) SE

B2. Current land use & vegetation

  • Conservation

B3. Forestry

  • No selection

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

  • Other rock art

B5. Location Notes

Kilmichael Glassary 1 is located on the NW side of the village of Kilmichael Glassary, on a gentle, SE facing slope. The panel is located on the W side of a tributary road which leaves the main road through the village immediately N of the school. To the W of the panel is open rough grazing and to the S there is a street of houses; a cliff-edge is visible on higher slopes to the NW. As this site as a Historic Environment Scotland Property in Care, there is a metal fence enclosing the main site, which can be entered over a small style on the upper W side. Electric cables pass overhead, and c. 5m to the W, beyond the PIC area, is a second panel (Kilmichael Glassary 2; ScRAP ID: 3027 - this panel was previously also recorded under this Canmore ID but has been allocated it's own unique record as a part of the ScRAP.)

Previous Notes

NR89SE 1 8579 9349. NR 858 934. A sheet of rock 25' x 15' x 0.1' is sculptured with over 80 cups, and 15 cups-and-one-ring, and keyhole figures. It is enclosed by a fence. Twelve feet W of the SW corner of this fence, a rock area 9' x 2' bears six cups, some in groups, and one cup-and-ring (not under guardianship). Other outcrops in the vicinity have cup marks. M Campbell and M Sandeman 1964; R W B Morris 1973. NR 8579 9349. These two cup and ring marked rocks are generally as described. Surveyed at 1:2500. Visited by OS (DWR) 8 May 1973 No change to the report of above. No other cup marks were noted in this area, though there are many rock outcrops bearing natural weathering marks. Visited by OS (BS) 10 February 1977 Situated in rough pasture to the NW of Am Baile Mor, Kilmichael Glassary, there are two groups of cup-and-ring markings (see also NR89SE 17). This rock outcrop lies a short distance NW of the public road and is surrounded, in part, by iron railings. Within the fence the rock-face dips to the SE and two parallel terraces are profusely decorated with cups, rings and other motifs. Of particular note are four cups with keyhole-like rings, which occur on both the upper and lower terraces, and three large oval marks which lie on the W side of the lower terrace. Outside the NW angle of the enclosure an extension of the rock-sheet has been exposed, revealing at least forty-seven plain cups and five cups with single rings (Campbell and Sandeman 1964). RCAHMS 1988, visited June 1985.

A large area of rock has been cleared of turf to reveal an expanse of cup-markings, several of them unusually large. Many of the cups have grooves, while others are at least partly surrounded by an outer ring. Information from ëExploring Scotlandís Heritage: Argyll and the Western Islesí, (1985).

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) 7.4 Width 3.8
Height (max) 0.7 Height (min) 0
Approximate slope of carved surface
20 degrees 5 degrees
Orientation (Aspect e.g. NW)
Rock Surface SE Carved Surface E Carved Surface SE

C3. Rock Surface

Surface Compactness Friable Grain Size Medium Visible Anomalies No selection Rock Type Schist

C4. Surface Features

  • Fissures/cracks
  • Natural Hollows
  • Rough surface

C5. Panel Notes

A large, exposed rectangular area of outcrop measuring 7.4m by 3.8m and up to 0.7m in height, which slopes gently to the SE at a roughly 20 degree angle. The rock is a friable, medium grain schist with numerous fissures, natural hollows and has - in places - a rough surface. The panel as been decorated with over 150 motifs, including 110 cup marks, 7 large cup marks, 2 dumbells, 5 cups with tails, 4 extended oval shaped motifs, 8 cups with partial rings, 1 cup with a tail and a partial ring enclosing the cup, 1 cup with a tail and a partial ring enclosing the cup and tail, 1 cup with a ring and tail from the cup to beyond the ring, a group of three cups enclosed by a ring, and three key hole shaped motifs: two of which are open at one end and the third of which is completely enclosed. There are also additional grooves, up to 5, which partially enclose a number of motifs on the lower E side of the panel.

C6. Probability

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

Comments

No comments added

C7. MOTIFS

Cupmark
cupmark_1 cupmark_5 cupmark_6 cupmark_7
110 5 2 7
Cup and Rings
cup_and_ring_5
1
Partial Ring
partial_ring_arc_2
8
Groove
groove_8
4
Keyhole
keyhole_2
2
Other carvings and motifs
other_motif_5
4

Visible Tool Marks? No

Visible Peck Marks? No

Section D. ACCESS, AWARENESS & RISK

D1. Access

  • Right to Roam access.
  • Panel is on Private land.
  • Access is managed by a national organisation.

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
  • The rock is located on/nearby a path or place where people might walk.
  • The rock is in an area with visitor facilities.
Comments and other potential threats

No comments added