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MHG2631 - Cup Marked Stone - Buntait (Midton1)

Summary

A cup marked stone at Midton.

Type and Period (1)

Protected Status

Full Description

There is a roughly level outcrop of rock with a slight inclination to the W, which bears about 20 cup-marks, some extremely weathered, in an area about 0.8m square.
Surveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (J M) 10 June 1974

This panel was recorded as part of the ScRAP (Scotland’s Rock Art project) by members of NoSAS in August 2020. The panel lies in rough grazing on a southwest facing slope overlooking the River Enrick where a number of smaller burns join the main river. It is situated within a landscape of Bronze Age remains, hut circles clearance cairns, field systems and, on the other side of the river about 1km to the west is Corrimony, a Clava type cairn. Just to the north of the panel there are the scattered remains of a standing stone which was destroyed at some point in the past possibly when a small water reservoir was built. At present the land is a mixture of older crofting and modern farming with forestry and open moorland to the north and improved pasture to the south, east and west. Below the outcrop about 50m to the southwest there is a minor road to Buntait and beyond that the land slopes down to the river valley. The is part of a ridge of partially exposed rock with some grass and a lot of gorse bushes. The ridge has post and wire fences along its bottom edges on the east and west sides separating it from the pasture fields on either side. There is an informal access route to the higher pasture along the ridge beside the panel. Midton 1 lies about 4m west of a second cup marked rock, Midton 2, and was previously grouped with Midton 2 under the same Canmore ID 12251 (ScRAP 2725).

This is part of the extensive sheet of gneiss outcrop forming a south facing ridge covered with patches of turf scattered over the rock. The turf may increase at times as on occasions in the past the panels have not been found. At the time of this visit there were two sections of exposed cupmarks and these have been recorded as separate panels as they were 4m apart. Midton 1 is to the west and Midton 2 to the east. The turf between the panels was too deep to remove without causing damage. Midton 1 is an irregular shaped area of exposed bedrock 1.95 E-W x 1.10m and flush with the turf. The rock is gneiss with quartz inclusions running roughly N-S. The panel is generally south facing with the quartz inclusions creating shallow channels. The cupmarks are grouped to the west side of the panel. There are 34 cups, 4 oval or double cups, 3 dumbbell motifs and a large oval which runs into a channel which includes 2-3 cups and at the end of the channel there is a clearer cup. The cupmarks are of varying depths and size with some small and shallow cups and it is possible that there are several more very shallow weathered cups. <1>

Sources/Archives (2)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NH 3979 3102 (10m by 10m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NH33SE
Civil Parish	KILTARLITY AND CONVINTH
Geographical Area	INVERNESS

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Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Investigations/Events (1)

External Links (2)