Cairnbaan Cup and Ring Marks
Cairnbaan Rock Art · Kilmartin Rock Art 1
Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age·Kilmartin Late Neolithic·🇬🇧 Kilmartin Glen, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, United Kingdom
About
About Cairnbaan Cup and Ring Marks
Among the finest cup-and-ring rock art in Kilmartin Glen, on a schist outcrop behind Cairnbaan Hotel, carved c.3000–2000 BCE. Panels bear >100 cups, rings, and rosettes, including a rare fern-like motif. Exposed by forestry clearance, the art crowns the ridge overlooking the linear cairn cemetery and illustrates the glen's ritual landscape beyond burial monuments.
Why it mattersAmong the finest cup-and-ring rock art in Kilmartin Glen, on a schist outcrop behind Cairnbaan Hotel, carved c.3000–2000 BCE. Panels bear >100 cups, rings, and rosettes, including a rare fern-like motif. Exposed by fores
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Symbolic meaning of cup-and-ring motifs
Theories
- 01Glen-wide ritual marking of route
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 3000–2000 BCE
- Period
- Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age
- Culture
- Kilmartin Late Neolithic
- Purpose
- Rock art on schist outcrop
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
c. 3000–2000 BCE
Initial construction
c. 1279 CE
Major expansion
On the ground
Structures & features
56.0655° N · 5.4444° W · 85 m · 2 mapped features
Panel 1 main outcrop
rock artSchist outcrop 6×3 m with densest cup-and-ring cluster, 70+ motifs
56.0655° N · 5.4444° WPanel 2 fern motif
rock artSchist sheet with distinctive fern-like rosette and tail
56.0654° N · 5.4444° W
Gallery