Allt Nead

Date Fieldwork Started: 27/07/2021

Compiled by: NOSAS

Location Notes: The dam across the E end of Loch Mullardoch was completed in 1951, flooding much of the upper Glen Cannich strath. It incorporated the previous Loch Lungard that was 1km to the W of the W end of the previous Loch Mullardoch. The new dammed Loch Mullardoch is an extensive deep loch, that in summer 2021 was at an all-time low. The receding waters had returned the approximate margins of the previous Loch Lungard and revealed four, possibly six, hut circles at its NW end that generally lie below the waters of Loch Mullardoch. In surveying them, the team identified a cup-marked stone lying just to the W of the Allt Nead about 150m N of where it had previously flowed into Loch Lungard. Usually the waters of Loch Mullardoch would cover this stone. The panel lies at the base of the steep slope of S facing rough pasture that comes down from An Nead, the SW extension of the Munro An Riabhachan. It lies 10m W of the Allt Nead burn, and 100m NW of where the Allt Nead used to flow into the waters of Loch Lungard. There is a probable hut circle 10m to the W, and further hut circles to the SW and SE, see location sketch.

Panel Notes: This wedge-shaped stone lies on the S sloping surface of the land as the ground levels out from the steep hillside to the N, before leading down into the flat bed of the previous Loch Lungard. Its long axis is aligned NW-SE, with the rock surface broken into 3, possibly 4, components by fissures. At the northern end, two lobed flat surfaces are at a lower level than the main rock surface at the southern end. This in turn is divided into two components by a deep step in the rock running NW-SW. The greatest density of cups is on the SW aspect of this deep step. The panel is 3.0m long NW-SE and 1.5m wide NE-SW. It is generally flat, with a slight 5 degree slope to the S. At its highest point, on the eastern edge, it is 0.4m above the ground surface. There are 29 recognisable cups in all. Four cups are on the western of the two N lobes. On the main carved surface there are 18 cups, some of which are 1cm deep. The remaining seven cups lie on the panels outwith the main carved surface, see the panel sketch.