Reference
Date 2001
Event ID 928459
Category Documentary Reference
Type Reference
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/928459
A water-worn pillar of Torridonian sandstone was found partly buried in the shingle beach in 1977 and was re-erected above high-water mark in 1982 (i). It has been set upright about 6m N of a small stream and 220m SW of the cave (Gaelic, Uamh) which gives the bay its name and which has produced occupation-material of various periods including a medieval bone playing-piece (see NM49NW 1). The bay was occupied by a small pre-clearance settlement represented by the remains of six structures and associated cultivation (see NM49NW 4).
The pillar measures about 1.4m in length, of which the lower 0.3m is concealed, and tapers upwards in width from 0.41m to 0.24m at the head. It is of triangular section, having a maximum thickness of 0.32m at the base. On the broadest face there is an almost equal-armed cross, 0.25m high and 0.21m across the arms, with triangular terminals (that to the left now obliterated). It is set on a pedestal of the same width, 0.21m in height and rising from a rounded triangular base. The carving has been pecked out to form a rounded groove about 20mm wide and only 3mm deep, although the terminals of the lower arm and the base have been sunk to about 7mm. However, the motif stands out clearly against the light grey of the surface, since it has been pecked through to an orange-buff layer.
Although this carving is of simple form and execution, the motif of an equal-armed cross on a pedestal is found in the psalter known as the Cathach of St Columba, of the late 6th or early 7th century, and in Palestinian flasks depicting the site of Golgotha.
Footnotes:
(i) The Commissioners are indebted to Mr D Peacock, Edinburgh, for information about the discovery of this stone, and to Mr J A Love for information about its removal.
RCAHMS 1983d, no.16; J A Love 1983, fig. on p.5; Clutton-Brock 1987, 28-9; M Magnusson 1997, 12.
I Fisher 2001, 95.
