Description

The monument comprises a boulder marked with cups and rings of prehistoric date.

The stone lies in a bracken-covered strip between a modern fence and an older wall at the edge of an arable field. It lies on the edge of a low rise which, prior to the planting of modern woodland, would have formed a prominent landscape feature, and which would have given views across the Lake of Menteith to the NE and Lake Macanrie to the SW.

The roughly circular boulder measures some 1.2m in surface diameter. The surface is entirely covered with cup and ring marks (22 cups in all) varying in size from about 2.5 - 5cm in diameter. All are very symmetrically formed. Although much weathered since it was originally described and recorded in 1899 some of the detail is still clearly visible. The 1899 record describes it as having a cup mark in the centre surrounded by four circular grooves. Other markings include incomplete triple and quadruple circles.

Cup and ring marks are thought to date principally to the Bronze Age and to have been related to acts of ritual and religious significance.

The area to be scheduled encompasses the stone and the summit of the low rise on which it sits plus an area around in which traces of associated activity may be expected to survive. It is sub-circular with a maximum diameter of 25m as marked in red on the accompanying map. It excludes the above-ground remains of the field wall which forms the SE boundary of the scheduled area and the above ground elements of the modern fence.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance because of its potential to contribute to our understanding of prehistoric ritual practices.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NS 59 NE 6.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland