Balmacnaughton 4

Date Fieldwork Started: 25/09/2020

Compiled by: Callander

Location Notes: The panel is located in rough grazing on the NW sloping edge of a rocky knoll on the W facing hillside above Balmacnaughton Farm, overlooking Loch Tay with the Ben Lawers and Glen Lyon hills and Schiehallion visible to the W and N. The bedrock on top of the knoll is extensively carved, with five additional exposed areas of rock (Balmacnaughton 1-3 and 5-6), extending over a length of about 15m. This panel is about 3m SW of the largest of these, Balmacnaughton 2 and lies directly between Balmacnaughton 3 and 5. These panels collectively feature cups, cups and rings and other motifs, all previously grouped together under Canmore 25013, ScRAP 1671. The N-S running stone wall and deer fence to mature pine woodland lies 4m to the NE of the panel. On the slopes below and to the W of the panel there are the remains of numerous stone dykes, field clearance cairns, and structures. The area has been extensively quarried and re-located in structures. The rock to the S noted by Naddir in 1992 is not an additional panel but part of the six sections of outcrop mentioned the existing Canmore description, and recorded by ScRAP as Balmacnaughton 1-6.

Panel Notes: This exposed area of outcrop measures about 2.5 x 0.9m and is flush with the ground. It lies between the Balmacnaughton 3 and 5 panels, and is of the same coarse, metamorphic rock type as all the others in this locally grouping. The most prominent feature is the thick, raised felsite vein which runs longitudinally through the centre of the panel. There are 2cm wide grooves running either side of this vein, which widen to about 7cm where the vein runs out to the W end of the rock. The grooves may be completely natural but their even, curved profiles suggest possible artificial enhancement. There are 2 motifs on the panel on opposite sides of the vein, roughly in the centre of the panel : a courgette-shaped groove of 15x6x2cm to the S of the vein and a cup with a single ring to the N (cup 5x1.5cm, ring outer diameter 11cm and inner diameter 8cm). Other sub-circular depressions are probably natural features.