Point
Cup And Ring Marked Stone (Prehistoric)
Site Name Point
Classification Cup And Ring Marked Stone (Prehistoric)
Canmore ID 39847
Site Number NR96SE 1
NGR NR 99140 64389
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/39847
- Council Argyll And Bute
- Parish Kilfinan
- Former Region Strathclyde
- Former District Argyll And Bute
- Former County Argyll
NR96SE 1 9914 6439.
NR 992 645. There is a prominent cup marked greywacke boulder 300 yds S of Point farmhouse, 25 yds from N field wall and 40 yds from W field wall. It is 70' OD, in good pasture, but with a rocky whin-covered area just to its N. It measures 9' x 6' x 3' high, and bears 13 cup marks up to 2" diameter and 1" deep. Round at least four of them is a very faint ring 4" in diameter, showing clearly on rubbing and in oblique light. According to Mr Crawford, there is also a second stone, not found by Morris in 1966, "lost sight of in the brushwood nearby" - presumably in the whin area to N.
R W B Morris 1966; Information from R W B Morris Ms.
NR 9915 6439. The boulder has four alignments of 17 cup marks on the S face, 7 of which are each surrounded by a single ring.
No trace of the other stone was found.
Surveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (I A) 25 October 1972.
Described and illustrated.
R W B Morris 1977.
Field Visit (June 1986)
This cup-and-ring marked erratic block is situated in an arable field and lies on the crest of a slight rise 300m SSE of Point farmhouse. On its sloping face there are ten cups with single rings (one of which has a radial groove) and eighteen plain cupmarks. A second cupmarked stone, which is reported to lie in the adjacent field, was not located on the date of visit (Morris 1966).
Visited June 1986
RCAHMS 1988
Note (25 June 2018)
Date Fieldwork Started: 25/06/2018
Compiled by: ScRAP
Location Notes: This conspicuous boulder forms part of a small clearance cairn about 30m E of the farm track and 50m SE of the field gate in improved pasture on a gentle SE facing slope that continues to slope away towards the sea shore, approximately 150m to the south and east. There are extensive views south, east, and west from the boulder across the sea to Bute, Arran and Kintyre. The boulder may have been moved in the past when the field was cleared. There are a number of other small clearance cairns along the line of an old field boundary about 100m to SE, and along the current fence line 20m to the NE.
Panel Notes: This is a free standing erratic greywacke boulder rising to a max height of 1.0m, measuring 2.5x1.3m. The boulder is resting on some small stones which form part of the clearance cairn, suggesting it may have been moved in the past. The carved surface slopes gently to the SSW, and is damaged along its bottom edge which may have removed some of the carvings. The carved surface is relatively smooth but features a few small natural hollows, including a circular hollow on the top edge of the boulder which may have been enhanced by pecking. The visible motifs comprise 10 single cups, 9 cups with one ring, 1 cup with a ring and short groove, and a 'courgette', although there may be additional motifs that are too eroded to be visible with the eye. The cups vary in size from 8cm to 3 cm diameter. Some have obvious tool marks. The motifs appear to form several alignments. Towards the top of the boulder is a row of 3 cups with rings and a single cup. Two of the cup and ring motifs have conjoined rings. On the lower part of the boulder are three rows of cups and cup and ring motifs. In the middle of the boulder is a pecked inscriptions with the letters JAML. Further letters are inscribed on the W face of the boulder. There are some peck marks on the top of the boulder.
