Publication Account
Date 1985
Event ID 1016263
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016263
Tormain Hill affords fine views of the Pentlands, west Edinburgh, the Forth Road Bridge and the West Lothian landscape, with the Ochils beyond. The low summit ridge, at about 140m, shows a number of natural rocky outcrops; at least eight of these, within an area some 12m by 6m on the highest part of the ridge, bear a rich collection of man-made markings. Four or five sets of markings are clearly visible, especially with a late afternoon sun; the rest are overgrown with turf.
The markings vary from a single large cup on one rock, to a set of circles, concentric rings and grooves-as well as cup-marks-on another at the southern end of the group. This particular boulder, though split and rather worn, shows traces of 20 cups varying from 1.3cm to 5cm in diameter; at least seven cups are surrounded by single rings and in two instances the rings are connected by shallow grooves to simple cupmarks. The largest cup on this stone is circled by one complete ring, with three additional concentric arcs linking up four of the other rings.
Such markings were made, in the main, with small picks or driven punches-and a tedious, lengthy task it undoubtedly was. As a form of ornamentation they feature on fixed natural outcrops such as Tormain Hill (was it a special place of meeting or ceremony?), on smaller more 'portable' slabs, on standing stones, on or within burial cists. They may be clustered, several of one or various designs together; or singly. Outside Glencorse Parish Church, for instance (NT 246626), the upper surface of a slab of stone, less than 1m long, is covered with at least 22 cups, some with faint rings, and five cup-and-ring markings with radial or connecting grooves.
Information from 'Exploring Scotland's Heritage: Lothian and Borders', (1985).
