Allt An Airgid
Cup Marked Stone (Neolithic) - (Bronze Age), Knocking Stone (Period Unknown)(Possible)
Site Name Allt An Airgid
Classification Cup Marked Stone (Neolithic) - (Bronze Age), Knocking Stone (Period Unknown)(Possible)
Canmore ID 24196
Site Number NN53SE 19
NGR NN 57862 31784
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/24196
- Council Stirling
- Parish Killin
- Former Region Central
- Former District Stirling
- Former County Perthshire
NN53SE 19 5785 3179.
A slab of slate, 6' x 4'3" x 1'9" thick, lying horizontally, has on its upper surface eight cups and a basin-shaped cavity; it is half a mile S of the bridge over the Dochart, up the hillside towards the shooting range (NN 5731), 500' OD.
J R Allen 1882; C G Cash 1912
NN 5785 3179. This cup marked stone is as described and illustrated by Allen. The large hole is almost certainly a mortar or "knocking stone" contemporary with the nearby ruined croft.
Surveyed at 1:10,000.
Visited by OS (JP) 11 September 1975
Note (1979)
Killin Shooting Range NN 578 317 NN53SE 19
A boulder bearing cup-marks.
RCAHMS 1979
Allen 1882, 102; Cash 1912, 267.
Note (15 October 2018)
Date Fieldwork Started: 15/10/2018
Compiled by: Callander
Location Notes: Situated in the large area of forest to the S of Killin, this stone lies in an extensive area of cleared forest, which has been replanted. The stone sits near the crest of a rise that the replanting seems to have deliberately avoided. Itcommands an extensive all-round view, especially to Sgiath Chuill overlooking the N side of Glen Dochart, and to the N: the Tarmachan ridge and Ben Lawers. C G Cash, 1912 (see previous notes) states that the remains of a croft could be plainly seen then. This is not so obvious now but the ruined walls of the adjacent enclosed fields are still substantial in places (HER/SMR 63736).
The Airgid burn is about 80m to the E. The site can be accessed from the recently made forest track that runs from the S Loch Tay road and is shown only on the 1:10,000 OS map. There is a path leading off almost at the end of this track at NN 57940 31764 that passes close to the panel, which is up to the right of a small electric cable marker.
Panel Notes: A roughly rectangular slab of rock of relatively even thickness, now buried in the earth. Probably metamorphic (although this lies within an area where the bedrock is the Loch Tay limestone) and tending towards a slatey appearance, although without distinct cleavage planes. The slab has a very obvious bowl half way across its long axis and about one third of the way from its SE edge. This has been recorded as a 'knockin' stane' and possibly represents a more recent re-use of this prehistoric stone. The bowl itself is quite circular and is 25cm wide x 12cm deep. It has a distinctive rounded and elongated quartzite inclusion running up to the NE edge of its rim.
The cups are clustered roughly in the NW quadrant of the panel. There are 7 definite cups: 2 are about 6 x 1.5cm and the other 5 smaller and shallower at around 5 x 0.5cm. There is also a central row of 3 further possible cups linking a fractured path running W to E. These 3 are evenly spread over a length of about 30cm, with the W-most one being most fractured and connected to the central depression by a straight groove which may not be natural. To the NW of the cluster of cups, there is an area of possible peck marks.
Additional motifs identified from 3D model: The model shows a clear diagonal shelving of the rock NW to SE. The lower part of the surface includes the bowl of the knocking stone. It appears that the creation and continued use of the bowl may have caused the surrounding surface to crack off leaving a lower shelf. The shelf intersects possible cup marks and it may be that the rock was covered with many other marks that came away from the original surface due to re-use of the rock as a knocking stone.
