Tiree, Creag Na Sgalaig 1

Date Fieldwork Started: 30/05/2018

Compiled by: NOSAS

Location Notes: The panel, an upstanding outcrop, lies in a large field of rough grazing. The panel has views of the sea to the N and to the E with the hills of Mull in the distance. The sea and Beinn Hough are visible to the W. The view to the S is of farm land with Ben Hynish visible on the horizon. The field is marshy in places and has a grass covered old, now unused, raised track or bank immediately to the N of the panel and running E-W from the W fence of the field before turning N just to the N of the outcrop. Parts of the field to the S seem to have been drained in the past but now may be grazed by animals. The field is enclosed with a post and wire fence 86m to the N, where there is also a line of telegraph poles. There is a fence 100m to the W and another 29m to the S. The panel is the largest rocky outcrop in the field but there are at least 3 other outcrops with rock art (NT 008).

Panel Notes: The panel is 9m N-S by 8m and 3.5m high. The rock outcrop has several levels but generally is a large rounded mound of rock with a hollow on the top presently filled with grass. The N, W, SE and S faces of the outcrop are nearly vertical with ledges of outcrop nearly at ground level on the N and W sides and a further outcrop separated by grass to the E. There are at least 30 cup marks, some faint and include a group of 5 found beneath the turf. The cup marks are in three areas:

Area 1: Just to the E of the centre of the rock outcrop, hidden under turf (which was pulled back for recording and photography), lie a cluster of 5 cup marks in a hollow with a single cup slightly separate to the SE. This is shown on the main Sketchfab 3-D model for Creag na Sgalaig (https://tinyurl.com/yxtk6tra) and shown in more detail in this hyperlinked Sketchfab 3-D image: https://tinyurl.com/y2hqy5jj.

Area 2: On the W side of the outcrop is a slab of rock, orientated N-S, which lies at a lower level than the main top surface. It is separated from that main surface by a deep grass-filled cleft. This slab is fissured in both N-S and E-W directions. In the centre of it, two E-W fissures define a flat surface of rock on which a line of 4 cups lies N-S. A further fifth cup lies just to the W, separated from the four cups by a small N-S fissure. A more detailed Sketchfab 3-D image of this area is here: https://tinyurl.com/yxeuzkcr.

Area 3: At the NE end of the outcrop, is a flat surface of rock, surrounded by grass on three sides. This has 18 cups, which are seen in a more detailed Sketchfab 3-D image here: https://tinyurl.com/y4e33bwm