Tiree, Mannal
Cup Marked Rock (Neolithic) - (Bronze Age)
Site Name Tiree, Mannal
Classification Cup Marked Rock (Neolithic) - (Bronze Age)
Canmore ID 370780
Site Number NL94SE 89
NGR NL 97798 40515
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/370780
- Council Argyll And Bute
- Parish Tiree
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Argyll And Bute
- Former County Argyll
Note (5 June 2021)
Date Fieldwork Started: 05/06/2021
Compiled by: NOSAS
Location Notes: Towards the southern part of the W of the island there is a large area of flat ground between the high ground of the Hynish peninsula, Ben Hynish and Carnan Mor on the W, and the sea to the E. This flat area of rough pasture, previous crofting land, is divided by a regular network of field boundaries, with numerous rocky outcrops or cnocs sitting in the flat fields. Inland, to the W of Mannal on the coast, two parallel tracks enter this flat land from the E. Between them, 1km from the coastal road, sits a group of cnocs. The Mannal panel is the most NW of this group. 800m, almost due N, is Cadruim 1, a massive cnoc with numerous cupmarks. Beyond that stretches an approximate N-S line of rock panels traversing the bulge of the W part of the island. The Mannal stone is the most southerly panel in this line.
Panel Notes: This prominent, almost upright, gneiss cnoc lies at the NW end of a group of rock protuberances from an otherwise flat field of rough pasture, sloping gently to the NE. The main rock is 6m E-W, 5m N-S and stands up to 4.1m high at its highest point. On its SE side, separated from it by a fissure, is a series of lower rock surfaces in three main parts, measuring in total 3.2m E-W x 1.8m N-S and standing 1.6m above the grass at its base. The highest eastern part of these three conjoined outcrops has a flat surface on its SW end, on which is a dense cluster of 25 simple cups. Although the cups are tightly grouped, there is no obvious pattern to them. The cups are 2-4 cms in diameter, relatively shallow, and the most south-westerly of them are on the very edge of the surface.