Field Visit
Date June 1985
Event ID 1102329
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1102329
This cluster of cup-and-ring marked rock outcrops, which lies partly within a forestry plantation and partly in a clearing, is situated on the W shoulder of Creag Mhor 330m S of Ormaig farmhouse and 90m E of the bridge over the Eas Mor. There are two principal groups of marks (1-2), as well as four lesser sets (3-6), and they are described here as they occur from S to N (Campbell and Sandeman 1964; Morris 1973).
(1) The lower of the two major exposures is a gently sloping rock-sheet on which the decoration is divided into two sections; that to the W has been open to the elements for many years, while the other was only revealed in 1974, and the carvings on it are unusually fresh, with individual peck-marks clearly visible. The W section bears seven cups with single rings, at least fifteen plain cups and several lengths of grooving, with a marked concentration at the W end. Besides the ancient carving, there are some modern graffiti, which include the names John Campbell 1874 and Archie Campbell 1877. On the lower part of the sheet there is a mass of carving comprising four cups with double rings, twenty-seven with single rings, numerous plain cups (some with gutters), and several channels, including a parallel group of three, which lie towards the E end of the sheet. The most interesting feature of this group, however, are the three marks sometimes referred to as 'rosettes'. They comprise a cup-and-ring marking with a circle of pits or small cups lying between the central cup and the surrounding ring. In addition to the three complete rings of pits, one of the cups with two rings has half of its inner ring formed of similar pits, but in this case it is not clear whether it was deliberate or marks an intermediate stage in the completion of a normal ring.
(2) At the E edge of the clearing a short distance N of (1), there is a steeply sloping finger of bare rock; it is much weathered and fractured, but is so profusely decorated that the entire surface appears to have been modelled. Amongst the concentration of closely spaced cups, rings and channels, there are two marks that are especially worthy of note. Firstly, at the bottom left of the outcrop, there is a cup-and-gutter surrounded by a circle of pits (similar to the rosettes in (1) above), which in turn is enclosed within multiple rings, the inner and outer of which lead into a guttered cup and another ring respectively. The second mark lies 1.1m above the first and comprises seven short parallel grooves; this is a most unusual feature for Scottish rock art.
(3) An outcrop immediately W of the top of (2) bears two groups of marks both badly fractured and weathered. The eastern comprises twelve cups with single rings and at least seven plain cups, while to the W there are four cups with single rings and six plain cupmarks.
The remaining three groups all lie in the afforested area and are partially obscured by vegetation:
(4) About 2m NNW of (3), there is an outcrop bearing six plain cups measuring up to 50mm by 20mm.
(5) On an outcrop 1m N of (4), there are five cups with single rings, nine cups (three with gutters) and numerous channels.
(6) Some 4m N of (2), there is an outcrop which bears ten weathered cupmarks measuring up to 60mm by 15mm.
Visited June 1985
RCAHMS 1988
