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MHG7095 - Cup marked rock - Faddoch

Summary

A boulder with at least 40 cup marks on its east-sloping face.

Type and Period (1)

Protected Status

Full Description

NG92NE 1 953 285.

There is a large cup-marked boulder at Fadoch (Faddoch - NG 95 28) in Glen Elchaig.
T Wallace 1897.

Enquiries at Killilan and Faddoch proved negative.
Visited by OS (R L) 13 October 1966.

This is almost certainly the same cup marked boulder as that recorded under MHG51635. The records were initially kept separate pending further confirmation. They have now been amalgamated following receipt of further information (see <4>). <2>

This boulder was identified by George Currie in 2007. It is described as "A boulder on a terrace above Faddoch measuring 2.3 x 2.2 x 0.9m, [having] at least 40 cup marks on its E sloping face." Mr Currie suggests that it is almost certainly the same boulder as reported by T Wallace in 1897. <3>

It is an earthfast boulder on a large terraced area near the foot of a generally W facing hill-slope, directly above the part ruined / part occupied township of Faddoch. The boulder is 'tri-circular' in shape, c2.5m diam and c1m high, and is of a mixed fine and coarse grained mica schist with fine quartz veins running through it. There are c 50 cups on its upper SSE facing surface, most being extremely eroded and requiring specialist photography to fully reveal. Another hut circle was noted c100m E up-slope but not recorded. Again this CMS is in a complex area of enclosures with occasional platforms some of which may have prehistoric origins. <4><5>

This panel was recorded as part of the ScRAP (Scotland’s Rock Art project) by members of NoSAS but was not visited. <6>

This panel was recorded by members of NoSAS (Rock Art Group) in April 2024. This isolated CMR is located in a fenced area of grazing on a less steeply sloping step on the east side of Glen Elchaig at an altitude of around +32m AOD. It was first identified in 1897. Due to its size it is clearly visible at the location described and is also visible on satellite imagery around 10m northwest of the NGR given in Canmore. Access can be made via a hill track the entrance to which is around 300m southeast of the modern keeper’s house at Faddoch. The track is followed up the hill around 200m to its termination from where the boulder can be seen around 60m to the northwest on the other side of a low sheep fence. There are views from the site southeast up Glen Elchaig and also SW towards Camas Luinie.

The panel is an embedded irregular shaped boulder of mica schist measuring around 3m SW-NE, 2.3m NW-SE and around 0.9m high at its highest point above the surrounding ground. The upper surface slopes down to near ground level from NW-SE. The numerous cups, perhaps 30 in number, are typically between 40 and 70mm in diameter and 10-25mm deep, and arranged randomly on the boulder’s upper surface towards its southeast side. <7>

NGR adjusted based on 2023 (12.5cm) vertical aerial photographs. <8>

Sources/Archives (8)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NG 95442 28643 (14m by 14m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NG92NE
Geographical Area	SKYE AND LOCHALSH
Civil Parish	KINTAIL

Finds (0)

Related Monuments/Buildings (0)

Related Investigations/Events (2)

External Links (3)