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MHG44894 - Cup marked stone - Embo Street, Dornoch

Summary

Probable cup marked stone, Embo Street, Dornoch

Type and Period (2)

Protected Status

Full Description

NH89SW 1 8089 9138.

(NH 8089 9138) Cairn (NR) Stone Cist (NR) OS 6"map, (1960)

Remains of an excavated circular cairn, with diameter of some 44'. Near the centre a short cist has been exposed. The slab, which still partially covers the cist, is some 6' in length by 2'4" in breadth across the centre and 6" in thickness. On the underside of this stone, at its W end, is a well-defined cup mark about 2 1/2" across and 3/4" deep. Some 2.5" to S of cup a shallow groove runs along the centre of the stone from its W end for about 1'11" curving at its E extremity towards the S. There are a number of small hollows on both surfaces, which seem to be natural.
RCAHMS 1911, visited 1909.

Before excavation by Tait on 12th April 1867 the cairn of earth and rubble, measured 30' in diameter and 11' in height.
L Tait 1870

While inspecting cairn in January 1933, when it was overgrown by whins, Davidson came across an incised stone among debris in the bottom of cist. It was a flat sandstone about 18" long tapering from 15" broad to a rounded point. The sculptured device is about 11" long and 4.5" wide and 1/4" deep. J M Davidson 1940.

A whin covered cairn c.12.5m in diameter and c.1.2m high with a central cist as described by RCAHMS. The West end of the cap-stone bearing the cup-mark has been broken off, and could not be found. The surviving part still bearing the groove, is 1.3m long. The cairn is placed to the S of a stream, which has cut slightly into its N arc. Traces of a curving stony bank of uncertain date and purpose extend for about 50.0m to W from SW arc of the cairn.
Revised at 1/2500. Visited by OS (A A) 23 March 1971.

This panel was recorded as part of the ScRAP (Scotland’s Rock Art project) by members of NoSAS in July 2019. The site of the reported panel is a small cairn (Scheduled Monument number 1788; HER number MHG44895). The cairn lies immediately on the south side of a very small burn which runs southeast to the Dornoch Firth some 500m to the east. The cairn is about 12.5m in diameter and 1m high. There is a scatter of cairn stones visible through the grass which covers the cairn. The land around the cairn is rough grazing but on the day of the visit it did not appear to have been used by animals for some time. There are two very small mounds to the east of the cairn which may be cairns of clearance cairns, and a hut circle to the southeast of the fence line just south of the cairn.

The possible capstone of the cist is visible, but no carving or rock art can be seen on it. It was not appropriate to move the capstone especially as the cairn is scheduled. The previous report on the cairn describes a groove on the capstone which it states is on its underside, and suggests that the cup-marked part of the stone has been broken in the past and lost. Photographs were taken of the capstone but no 3D model was created. <1>

NGR adjusted based on 2020 vertical aerial photographs. <2>

Sources/Archives (5)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NH 8089 9137 (10m by 10m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NH89SW
Geographical Area	SUTHERLAND
Civil Parish	DORNOCH

Finds (0)

Related Monuments/Buildings (1)

Related Investigations/Events (0)

External Links (3)