Scheduled Maintenance
Please be advised that this website will undergo scheduled maintenance on the following dates: •
Tuesday 3rd December 11:00-15:00
During these times, some services may be temporarily unavailable. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Maiden's Rock
Cup Marked Rock (Neolithic) - (Bronze Age)
Site Name Maiden's Rock
Classification Cup Marked Rock (Neolithic) - (Bronze Age)
Alternative Name(s) Beinn Dubhain; Duible Burn
Canmore ID 7067
Site Number NC91NW 19
NGR NC 93143 19772
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/7067
- Council Highland
- Parish Kildonan
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Sutherland
- Former County Sutherland
NC91NW 19 9313 1976
(NC 9313 1976) Cup-marked Stone (NR).
OS 6" map, (1964)
There is a large isolated erratic of schist with wide laminations of quartz, situated on the S ridge of the Beinn Dubhain at a point E of the Duible Burn. The boulder measures 8' long and 4' wide and it stands some 3' above the level of the turf. Locally it is known as the "Maidens Rock" and it is a comparatively prominent object in the moorland plateau as few stones there protrude above the heather.
The stone slopes down to the S, and on the highest point of it to the NE, 3 cups are cut out with their centres in exact alignment. The cup at the NE end measures 3 1/2" in diameter and 3" deep. The other two, the central one at about 2" diameter and the other which is elliptical, are comparatively shallow. The distances apart of their centres from the central cup are 4 1/4" and 2 1/2" respectively.
J M Davidson 1940.
The boulder is as described by Davidson. The largest 'cup' although clearly artificial is somewhat deeper in proportion to its diameter than the average cup-mark. The central 'cup' in shape and size resembles a typical cup-mark; but the "elliptical" mark appears to be natural.
Visited by OS (W D J) 3 June 1961 and (J B) 6 May 1976.
Note (24 October 2019)
Date Fieldwork Started: 24/10/2019
Compiled by: NOSAS
Location Notes: The panel is situated in moorland and rough grazing high on a S facing slope overlooking Strath Kildonan. It is an outcrop in a field about 500m N of Dalchemie farm, about 60m SE of the upper fence line and 150m WNW of the fence corner.
Panel Notes: The panel is an outcrop of gneiss in the form of a ridge 2.7 x 1.3m and 0.9m high. At the E end is a large, deep cup, with a smaller cup close by it.
Additional Description: "NC91NW 19 9313 1976
(NC 9313 1976) Cup-marked Stone (NR).
OS 6" map, (1964)
There is a large isolated erratic of schist with wide laminations of quartz, situated on the S ridge of the Beinn Dubhain at a point E of the Duible Burn. The boulder measures 8' long and 4' wide and it stands some 3' above the level of the turf. Locally it is known as the "Maidens Rock" and it is a comparatively prominent object in the moorland plateau as few stones there protrude above the heather.
The stone slopes down to the S, and on the highest point of it to the NE, 3 cups are cut out with their centres in exact alignment. The cup at the NE end measures 3 1/2" in diameter and 3" deep. The other two, the central one at about 2" diameter and the other which is elliptical, are comparatively shallow. The distances apart of their centres from the central cup are 4 1/4" and 2 1/2" respectively.
J M Davidson 1940.
The boulder is as described by Davidson. The largest 'cup' although clearly artificial is somewhat deep"
