Upper Gaskan
Cup Marked Stone (Prehistoric), Stone Circle (Neolithic) - (Bronze Age)(Possible)
Site Name Upper Gaskan
Classification Cup Marked Stone (Prehistoric), Stone Circle (Neolithic) - (Bronze Age)(Possible)
Canmore ID 25168
Site Number NN76SW 2
NGR NN 7466 6113
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/25168
- Council Perth And Kinross
- Parish Blair Atholl
- Former Region Tayside
- Former District Perth And Kinross
- Former County Perthshire
NN76SW 2 7466 6113
(NN 7471 6121) A cup marked stone measuring 5ft 7 1/2ins by 6ft 6ins by 2ft 5ins at one end, and 3ft at the other. There are 16-18 cup marks on the upper surface.
Information from M E C Stewart, 20 November 1962.
NN 7465 6114. A cup marked stone generally as described by Stewart except that there are at least twenty-eight cup marks.
Surveyed at 1/2500.
Visited by OS (WDJ) 19 June 1969
During clearance of forestry from around the stone a possible stone circle was identified.
Information from B Sewell, 4 September 1991.
NMRS, MS/804.
Excavation (13 November 2017 - 24 November 2017)
NN 7466 6113 A programme of work was undertaken,
13–24 November 2017, to record and investigate an isolated
rock art site and assess the impact of commercial forestry.
Analysis of the cup-marked boulder revealed 29 cups and
a further probable 10 cups. The cup-marked rock was
shown to be sitting on a cobble-rich glacial till which had
not been modified by human activity. However, away from
the cup-marked rock, ploughing in advance of commercial
afforestation had severely disrupted the glacial till deposit
as well as the overlying topsoil. Where ploughing had not
taken place around the cup-marked rock there was a light
scattering of sharp quartz fragments which occurred on the
top of the glacial till deposit, at the base of the topsoil and
within the topsoil. There was a significant reduction in the
density of quartz pieces away from the cup-marked rock and
nearly all of the quartz is the result of human action (the use
of quartz hammerstones, tool production and perhaps even
the addition of glittering quartz decoration to the cup-marked
DISCOVERY AND EXCAVATION IN SCOTLAND 161
PERTH AND KINROSS
rock). An anthropomorphic shaped fragment of psammite
was also recovered; it had not been deliberately shaped but
may have selected because of its uncanny resemblance to the
human form. Small fragments of charcoal were noted in the
lower topsoil profile adjacent to the cup-marked rock, but
unfortunately this was not a sealed deposit and the charcoal
may well date to later farming activities when the site lay
within a walled field system. The roots of the commercial
forestry tended not to penetrate the glacial till but ran within
and at the base of the overlying topsoil. It was ascertained
that the relatively young scots pine tree roots extended up to
5m from their respective trunk.
Archive: NRHE (intended)
Funder: Forestry Commission Scotland
Clare Ellis – Argyll Archaeology
(Source: DES, Volume 19)