Scotland's Rock Art Project (ScRAP)
Date 29 September 2020
Event ID 1128813
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Note
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1128813
Date Fieldwork Started: 29/09/2020
Compiled by: ScRAP Team
Location Notes: The panel is located in rough grazing in a central position on the top of a rocky knoll on the W facing hillside above Balmacnaughton Farm, overlooking Loch Tay with the Ben Lawers and Glen Lyon hills and Schehallion visible to the W and N. The bedrock on top of the knoll is extensively carved, with five additional exposed areas of rock (Balmacnaughton 1-6) within 14m of this panel featuring cups, cups and rings and other motifs, all previously grouped together under Canmore 25013, ScRAP 1671. The N-S running stone wall and deer fence to mature pine woodland lies 2m to the NE of the panel. On the slopes below and to the W of the panel there are the remains of numerous stone dykes, field clearance cairns, and structures. The area has been extensively quarried and re-located in structures. The rock to the S noted by Naddir in 1992 is not an additional panel but part of the six sections of outcrop mentioned the existing Canmore description, and recorded by ScRAP as Balmacnaughton 1-6.
Panel Notes: This is a large, sub-rectangular area of exposed outcrop measuring 3.72 x 3.04m and flush with the ground, sloping slightly to the NE. The surface has a rough and pitted texture, with large fissures dividing the surface into three main parts, all of which are extensively decorated. Some motifs are carved with very deep grooves, but others are currently very weathered and difficult to see. In addition to the motifs, some of the natural features appear to have been enhanced.
On the western part of the surface there are 8 cup and one ring motifs, some of them conjoined, and 7 cupmarks, three of which are aligned.
On the middle part of the surface there are two cup and one ring motifs, and possibly two more of these. The two cup and ring motifs on the northernmost part of this middle section are conjoined, and on the opposite site of the panel, one cup and ring has a radial departing from the ring, alongside a cup and ring with a cupmark on its circle. There is one circular motif with at least one, but possibly two, concentric circles in a central area. Twenty-four cupmarks were carved on this part of the outcrop, one of them on the end of the cup and ring radial. The size of the cupmarks is relatively regular, but some of them are slightly larger than usual. In addition to the circular motifs, there are two elongated large grooves, which were probably executed with a succession of cupmarks which were combined together.
Finally, the largest, easternmost part of this panel is extensively carved with motifs making use of the micro-topography of the rock to provide a sense of three-dimensionality and relief to the designs. In this section there are 14 cup and one ring motifs, and in two occasions, three were carved in a conjoined fashion, with one of these having a radial parting from the circle. The dimensions of these motifs are regular, with a few exceptions where the circular motifs are larger or have a larger than usual central cupmark. In addition to these, there are 5 penannulars, 4 of which have radials departing from the central cupmark. A penannular with a very large and central cupmark is located on the SE part of the panel. On the edge of the raised part of the panel to the S, a large and very deep cupmark (9cm diameter) is possibly surrounded by 3 rings, and is the starting point of a rather large radial, with a straight angle. Furthermore, there are 39 cupmarks carved on the rock, with 9 of these being organised in lines of 3, and one of them located on the ring of the penannular with a large central oval. The majority of these cupmarks have regular sizes, but some of them are slightly larger than usual. There are also two large depressions, one of them 18cm wide.
