MHG2681 - Cup marked stone - Culnakirk

Summary

A cup marked stone at Culnakirk.

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Full Description

There is a cup-marked stone, imbedded in the ground about 58 yards west of'Clachmor' (NH 43 SE 2) There are 5 cups,all 2 1/2-3" in diameter, on its exposed level surface.
W Jolly 1882 <1>

Only two cup marks 2 1/2" to 3" in diameter can be seen on this stone at NH 49873107, which is deeply embedded in the ground and partly covered by turf.
Surveyed at 1/2500.
Visited by OS (R D) 3 December 1964

This stone was not identified during a walkover survey in August 2008. It is possible that it has been moved in order to enable more direct access to the field through the gateway from the Culnakirk Roadway. <2>

Douglas Scott submitted photographs and information about this stone in April 2011: This recumbent cup marked stone measures around 2 metres by 1 metre and lies about 30 metres to the west of the large cup marked slab of Clachmore. The southern end of the stone was excavated in 2001, by archaeologist Graham Robbins, to see if it was a fallen standing stone. Although a small hollow was found, this was too shallow to function as a stone hole and it was concluded that the stone had never stood upright. <3>

Douglas Scott confirms that the stone has not, in fact, been moved. It is still located on the north corner of the driveway as depicted on Ordnance Survey mapping. <4>

This panel was recorded as part of the ScRAP (Scotland’s Rock Art project) by members of NoSAS in August 2020. The panel is an erratic boulder situated just beside and to the N of the entrance to Clachmhor, a house to the E of the minor road to Culnakirk Farm. The panel lies on the SSE facing slope overlooking the River Enrick very near where it enters Loch Ness to the E. There are several small trees on the verge of the road beside the panel, including one about 1m to the W and another 3m to the N, and a post and wire fence lies to the NE. There is a second cup marked panel in the field about 80m to the NE called the Clachmhor stone, which is a scheduled monument. There are a number of prehistoric sites in the area, a Clava type cairn to the W, hut circles lie to the N and the multiperiod site of Garbeg is about 1km to the E.

This is a large boulder of gneiss measuring 2.9 x 1.1m and up to 0.4m above of the grass of the verge. The boulder extends about 0.2m into the tarmac of the drive. On the day of the visit the grass around the boulder had been strimmed and the site appeared cared for. The owner of the nearby house knew of its presence. There is 1 very clear cupmark and another 6 cupmarks, with a further 2 possible cupmarks on the boulder. The deeper, more visible cup, along with 3 others lie in a possibly natural channel which runs NW-SE along the centre of the boulder. There are 2 prominent quartz inclusions running NW-SE either side of the channel. There is a single cup mark on the SW side of the boulder. <5>

NGR adjusted based on 2020 vertical aerial photographs. <6>

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