Kilbride Burial Slab 1

NR89NE 19 8525 9650.

A hog backed stone 1.5m long by 0.7m wide by 0.2m high bearing 7 cups, 2 of which have double rings, one of the rings being pecked, was found by Mrs Dixon c. 1960 at NR 8903 9593 in a ploughed field. It now lies near NR89NE 15 at NR 8525 9650.

Surveyed at 1:2500.

Visited by OS (RD) 21 October 1971; Information from Mrs Dixon, Kilbride by Lochgilphead.

NR 852 964. About 1960 this hog-backed boulder (1.5m by 0.7m by 0.2m) was found in a ploughed field at NR c.8503 9593, it was subsequently moved into Kilbride garden and now lies adjacent to the cupmarks described under (NR89NE 15). Its rounded upper surface bears one cup with two rings, one cup with one ring, three plain cups and a cup with a possible groove (Morris 1977).

Visited May 1983

RCAHMS 1988

Watching briefs were undertaken in March and April 2011 during the excavation of trenches at several locations along power lines in the Kilmichael and Duntrune areas. At NR 80952 96612, close to several prehistoric monuments around Poltalloch, the summit of a natural mound was stripped to increase clearance for an overhead cable. A pole trench was dug at NR 86658 93891, near the possible site of a cairn at Ducharnan. Three pole trenches were excavated close to several cup-marked rocks near Kilbride Farm, at NR 85137 96269, NR 85181 96323 and NR 85232 96379. Nothing of archaeological significance was uncovered in any of the trenches.

Archive and report: RCAHMS and WoSAS

Funder: Scottish and Southern Energy

Scotia Archaeology 2011

Information also reported in Oasis (scotiaar1-104630) 15 July 2011

Date Fieldwork Started: 20/07/2019

Compiled by: ScRAP

Location Notes: Kilbride Burial Slab 1 lies on the north-west edge of the garden next to a drystone wall and on an outcrop. The outcrop is on flat land at the bottom of the Kilbride valley. The garden is heavily overgrown, and the house lies c.30m to the north-east of the panel. The outcrop has no noticeable aspect or slope. It is in an area with other rock art sites nearby and a chapel roughly 200 metres to the north-west of the panel. The panel has a clear view looking east approximately 20 metres from a previously recorded cup marked rock. The panel is approximately 10 metres to the north of Kilbride 1 (ScRAP ID 2755) and 200 metres north-east of Kilbride 5 (ScRAP 1801). The panel is also less than a metre away from Kilbride 4 (ScRAP ID 1630) which lies on the opposite side of the tree.

Panel Notes: This panel is a burial slab which is thought to have once been used as a cist cover. The landowner (Mr R Dixon) reported that it has been found in a field further to the south, likely in the 1960's, and was relocated to the garden after being discovered during ploughing activity. The panel is 1.4 metres long, 0.6 metres wide and has a height of 0.2 metres. The panel slopes to the north-east with the carved surface sloping in the same direction. The panel is hard, fine grain schist with a smooth surface. The panel is slightly damaged by numerous linear scratches, likely caused by repetitive ploughing. The panel has been decorated with two definite and three possible cup marks, scattered across the surface. In the centre of the panel there is a cup with a single ring and a cup with two rings and a tail extending from the outer ring. Between these motifs is a faint but definite key shape motif with the open tail end at the lower edge of the panel.