On the boat to Staffa
Medieval grave markers at Kilmartin Church



Prehistoric burial at Kilmartin Glen

Inside tomb at Kilmartin Glen. Grave slab has cup markings.

Kilmartin Glen burial site

Ancient rock carvings at Achnabreck

Female deer (hind) takes an afternoon stroll at Lochranza, Arran

Tour guide at Arran Distillery

Stag on road near Lochranza, Arran

Your tour guide at Druid's Stone, Arran

Sheila and Stu at the Druid's Stone

View of Holy Isle from Arran

Finding elusive stone circle between Brodick and Lamlash, Arran



Early morning view of Goat Fell, Arran



Inside Great Hall at Stirling Castle

External view of Great Hall, Stirling Castle


View from Stirling Castle to Wallace Monument


Another view of the Wallace Monument with Ochills


Watching salmon leaping up River Braan from Ossian's Hall


Tree silhouetted in the sun at Ossian's Hall

Afternoon view at Acharn Burn

Exhaustion on reaching the stone circle overlooking Loch Tay!!


Another view of the stone circle high up on the hill.



Falls of Acharn
A rare unicorn sheep, near Acharn


Kenmore Hotel, North end of Loch Tay


Church at Kenmore in the fall.


Rock Art on Ben Lawers.

Rock art revealed at Ben Lawers

Archaeologists discover stone artifacts around cup-and-ring marked rocks in Perthshire.

A small team of archaeologists working on the National Trust for Scotland’s ground at Ben Lawers, Perthshire, has uncovered traces of rock art that could date back into the Neolithic period, 5000 years ago. Professor Richard Bradley, from the University of Reading, and Aaron Watson are leading the team of specialists. A recent survey, undertaken as part of the Ben Lawers Historic Landscape Project, of the north side of Loch Tay recorded a large number of previously unknown cup-and–ring marked rocks. The site chosen for excavation is on one of the terraces along the hillside with spectacular views down the loch to Kenmore. The archaeologists have been excavating small trenches around the bedrock outcrops to try and find any artefactual evidence that might be contemporary with the carving and use of the rock art sites. Already quantities of flaked and worked quartz have been recovered. More surprising, however, was the discovery of two flakes of Arran pitchstone.nt style=""> This is a volcanic glass that is only found on the isle of Arran in the Firth of Clyde and must have been brought to the site at Ben Lawers.p>

Cup-and-ring marked rock art can be found across Atlantic Europe from Portugal to Orkney. The abstt class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_40">act symbols of circles and cups were pecked out of the rock some time between 3000 - 1500 BC, during the Late Neolithic and into the Early Bronze Age. Professor Bradley explained ‘it is likely that these specialised symbols had different meanings depending on their context of use much like the Christian cross. Some are used in ceremonial monuments, others are on public display in open landscapes like Ben Lawersclass="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_41">, whil

Aaron Watson has studied numbers of these sites including some in Kilmartiass="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_43">n Glen, in Argyll. ‘What is important about our current work is trying to move beyond simply studying the individual motifs to finding evidence for the people who made, used and understood these sites’.nt style="">

‘The discovery of artifacts around these rock art sites is a major step forward in our understanding of Scotland’s prehistoric past’ said Derek Alexander, West Region Archaeologist for the National Trust for Scotland, ‘once again the National Nature Reserve at Ben Lawers has benefited from some of the country’s leading experts in their field’.nt>

>

Would you like to learn more about the archaeological work at Ben Lawers and the National Trust for Scotland? For further information contact:

Aaron Watson, freelance archaeologist 07092201012

(Project Co-Director)

Derek Alexander NTS West Region Archaeologist 0141 616 5120

07887 577933


View of Loch Tay looking north towards Kenmore. Fantastic weather for October!


Reflections in Loch Awe

Experimental archaeology at the Crannog Centre
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View of the Crannog, Loch Tay
This is where we found the rock art, high on Ben Lawers


View of Loch Tay from Ben Lawers.


Cloisters at Iona Abbey



Circa 9th century Pictish grave marker at Iona


Inside Iona Abbey


External view of Iona Abbey


Ruined Nunnery at Iona

View of Staffa with Fingal's Cave
Columns on Staffa caused by 60m year old volcano
Hexagonal blocks caused by cooling volcanic lava ( Staffa)


Inside of Fingal's Cave


More volcanic residue on Staffa
Aspect of Staffa.
Prehistoric rock carvings at Achnabreck, Kilmartin Glen












Castle at Lochranza, Isle of Arran


Mushroom hunters at lodgings on Brodick, Arran


Ancient rock carvings, near Brodick on Arran









Machrie Moor stone circles, Arran


This may be the remians of a kist burial (Machrie Moor, Arran).




A very well worked circular stone on Machrie Moor-purpose??

Labels: stone circles

posted by Catswhiskers @ 5:28 AM