Midton 1

NH33SE 18 39794 31029.

At NH 3979 3102 there is a roughly level outcrop of rock with a slight inclination to the W, which bears about 20 cup-marks, some extremely weathered, in an area about 0.8m square.

Surveyed at 1:2500.

Visited by OS (J M) 10 June 1974

NH33SE 18 39794 31029.

This cup-marked rock could not be located at the date of survey and has probably been buried beneath field clearance.

Visited by RCAHMS (PJD) 22 October 1997

NH 39794 31029 (Canmore ID: 12251) A field visit by members of North of Scotland Archaeological Society on 11 December 2016 located the rock panel partially covered by turf at the recorded NGR. Photogrammetry on the panel, on 12 November 2017, revealed 50 to 60 cups, many with connecting grooves. A single cup mark was also identified on a panel 3m to the NE. The panel was photographed and 3D models produced. It will subsequently be further surveyed for Scotland’s Rock Art Project.

James McComas – North of Scotland Archaeological Society

(Source: DES, Volume 18)

Date Fieldwork Started: 04/08/2020

Compiled by: NOSAS

Location Notes: The panel lies in rough grazing on a SW facing slope overlooking the River Enrick where a number of smaller burns join the main river. It is situated within a landscape of Bronze Age remains, hut circles clearance cairns, field systems and, on the other side of the river about 1km to the W, is Corrimony, a Clava type cairn. Just to the N of the panel there are the scattered remains of a standing stone which was destroyed at some point in the past possibly when a small water reservoir was built. At present the land is a mixture of older crofting and modern farming with forestry and open moorland to the N and improved pasture to the S, E and W. Below the outcrop about 50m to the SW there is a minor road to Buntait and beyond that the land slopes down to the river valley. The is part of a ridge of partially exposed rock with some grass and a lot of gorse bushes. The ridge has post and wire fences along its bottom edges on the E and W sides separating it from the pasture fields on either side. There is an informal access route to the higher pasture along the ridge beside the panel. Midton 1 lies about 4m W of a second cup marked rock, Midton 2,and was previously grouped with Midton 2 under the same Canmore ID 12251 (ScRAP 2725).

Panel Notes: This is part of the extensive sheet of gneiss outcrop forming a S facing ridge covered with patches of turf scattered over the rock. The turf may increase at times as on occasions in the past the panels have not been found. At the time of this visit there were two sections of exposed cupmarks and these have been recorded as separate panels as they were 4m apart. Midton 1 is to the W and Midton 2 to the E. The turf between the panels was too deep to remove without causing damage. Midton 1 is an irregular shaped area of exposed bedrock 1.95 E-W x 1.10m and flush with the turf. The rock is gneiss with quartz inclusions running roughly N-S. The panel is generally S facing with the quartz inclusions creating shallow channels. The cupmarks are grouped to the W side of the panel. There are 34 cups, 4 oval or double cups, 3 dumbbell motifs and a large oval which runs into a channel which includes 2-3 cups and at the end of the channel there is a clearer cup. The cupmarks are of varying depths and size with some small and shallow cups and it is possible that there are several more very shallow weathered cups.