RCAHMS County Inventory; Argyll Volume 6 (Mid-Argyll and Cowal, Prehistoric and Early Historic Monuments)
Date April 1978 - July 1987
Event ID 1101446
Category Project
Type Project
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1101446
'This volume, the penultimate in a series covering the former County of Argyll, deals with the area of Mid Argyll and Cowal. Unlike its predecessors which embraced monuments of every date, Volume 6 is entirely devoted to the earlier periods, offering a detailed assessment of all the prehistoric sites together with the secular Early Historic monuments.
Of particular note in Mid Argyll and Cowal are the prehistoric burial cairns and cists, several of which are furnished with stone slabs bearing carved decoration that includes geometrical patterns and representations of metal axes; the wide expanses of cup-and-ring markings and many other decorative motifs which are found on natural rock surfaces in the area; the handsomely built funerary and ritual sites of the Kilmartin valley, including the recently excavated Temple Wood, and the wide range of stone-walled fortifications of the Iron Age and Early Historic period.
An introduction supplies a concise geographical and chronological setting in which the significance of the various classes of monument is discussed. The account includes 364 descriptive articles, which are illustrated by over 240 line-drawings and some 175 photographs; distribution and location maps complement the text. The cup-and-ring markings are particularly well illustrated, setting a high standard for all future studies of European rock art'.
[RCAHMS 1988 dust-jacket blurb]
