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Machuim

Cairn (Period Unassigned), Cup Marked Stone (Prehistoric), Stone Circle (Neolithic) - (Bronze Age)

Site Name Machuim

Classification Cairn (Period Unassigned), Cup Marked Stone (Prehistoric), Stone Circle (Neolithic) - (Bronze Age)

Alternative Name(s) Lawers Mill; Machulm; Machuinn

Canmore ID 24537

Site Number NN64SE 1

NGR NN 68201 40156

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/24537

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Administrative Areas

  • Council Perth And Kinross
  • Parish Kenmore (Perth And Kinross)
  • Former Region Tayside
  • Former District Perth And Kinross
  • Former County Perthshire

Archaeology Notes

NN64SE 1 68201 40156.

(NN 6819 4015) Stone Circle (NR)

OS 6" map (1900)

This circle consists of six massive stones standing on the circumference of a circle about 20ft in diameter on a mound about 40ft in diameter.

R W Feachem 1963; F R Coles 1910

Listed as a six stone graded oval, 6.7m by 5.8m, standing on a mound. (Condition '3': ruined but recognisable).

H A W Burl 1976

NN 6820 4015. The remains of a stone circle, dimensions as stated by Burl, comprising four upright, slightly graded slabs, and two partially buried slabs (D and F on plan) that were probably once standing. The largest stone (A) measures 1.5m high, 1.4m wide and 0.5m thick.

The stones are placed within a turf-covered, sub-circular mound approximately 10.0m in diameter and 1.0m high. Set in the mound between stones A, B and C and on the S side of stone E are three small boulders. The constructional sequence of stones and mound is not clear, but although somewhat accentuated by field clearance, the mound does appear to be a contemporary feature.

Surveyed at 1:2500.

Visited by OS (NKB) 29 September 1975 and (JRL) 10 December 1978

This stone circle stands on a low rise in improved pasture. It appears to have been constructed on top of an earlier cairn, which measures 7.3m from E to W by 7m transversely and 0.65m in height, and whose surface is partly obscured by dumps of recent field-cleared stones. The circle measures 6.2m from NE to SW by 5.8m overall, and probably comprised seven large erratic boulders set on edge around the cairn's flat top. Four stones remain standing and three have fallen; two additional stones, much smaller than the others though also earthfast, and which lie between the orthostats in the NW and NE arcs, may be no more than field clearance. The stones appear to be graded in height, from 1.4m in the SW arc to 1m on the NE, and all present their broader and more regular faces outwards. One stone is noteworthy for having a broad band of quartz, and two stones are decorated with cupmarks. One of the cup marked stones, in the NW arc, has two shallow cups on its external face, each measuring 30mm in diameter, and another on its internal face, measuring 50mm in diameter; the other, in the SW arc, has one faint cup, measuring 45mm in diameter, and two possible cups, all on its internal face.

The stone circle is depicted upon John Farquharson's 1769 Survey of the North Side of Loch Tay (National Archives of Scotland RHP 973/1, Plan 14) as a 'Druid temple'. At that time it already stood within enclosed and cultivated ground.

(BL00 913)

Visited by RCAHMS (ATW) 8 June 2000

Coles and Burl both name this site Machuinn, while Feachem names it Machulm. Both versions appear to be errors, as the farm on which the site stands is spelt Machuim on the first edition of the OS 6-inch map (Perthshire 1867, sheet LVIII), and on all subsequent editions, while John Farquharson's 1769 survey gives the form Mahuaim.

Information from RCAHMS (SDB) 30 July 2007

Activities

Measured Survey (1 December 2000)

RCAHMS surveyed the stone circle at Machium on 1 December 2000 with plane-table and alidade at a scale of 1:100. The plan was later used as the basis of an illustration produced in vector graphics software.

Field Walking (12 June 2019)

GUARD Archaeology Limited undertook an archaeological desk-based assessment and walkover survey, conducted on 12th June 2019, of an area proposed for woodland creation at Duallin Farm in Perth and Kinross. The aims of the study were to assess evidence for the past human use of the area, its archaeological sensitivity, and the potential impact of any development upon the archaeological resource.

The cultural heritage assessment has found that the Site sits within an archaeological landscape that has been used for settlement and ritual purposes since prehistoric times. Within the Site itself are six cup marked or cup and ring marked stones. A further nine cup marked or cup and ring marked stones, one prehistoric hut circle (CHS 56) and a nationally significant stone circle are located within the 1 km buffer.

There are 16 post-medieval sites of local or lesser cultural heritage significance within the area proposed for woodland creation. These consist of agricultural remains, townships, small-scale industrial features, individual structures a trackway and a wall.

Cartographic evidence and aerial and satellite imagery indicate that the Site has been agricultural land and upland rough grazing since at least the mid eighteenth century. Given that prehistoric remains are known within the Site, there is good potential for the survival of hitherto unrecorded sub-surface archaeological remains within the area proposed for woodland creation. Consequently, Perth and Kinross Council may require the implementation of a programme of archaeological evaluation works to establish the presence or absence in those areas of the Site that will be subject to ground-breaking work.

A brief assessment of potential indirect effects upon the designated cultural heritage sites located within the 1 km buffer found that there would be no significant indirect effect upon the settings of Old Lawers Village, Settlement and Burial Ground Scheduled Monument, Lawers Toll House (CHS 31), Lawers Bridge (CHS 32), Lawers Smithy, Lawers Mill, or Lawers Burn, Peat Stores, Huts and Trackways, and Cup-marked Stones Scheduled Monument.

Information from: Karolina Saxerbo Sjoberg (Guard Archaeology) 14th June 2019

OASIS ID: guardarc1-355540

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