Kilmartin Glen: Ballygowan Cup And Ring Marks

Kilmartin Glen: Ballygowan Cup And Ring Marks

Kilmartin Glen: Ballygowan Cup And Ring Marks
Kilmartin
Lochgilphead
Argyll
Scotland
PA31 8RQ

Tel: 0131 668 8600
E-Mail: hs.members@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Web: Kilmartin Glen: Ballygowan Cup And Ring Marks

About Kilmartin Glen: Ballygowan Cup And Ring Marks

Mysterious marks

Among the archaeological riches in Kilmartin Glen is an extraordinary array of prehistoric rock art. The designs take the form of cup-marks, cup-and-ring marks, spirals, stars and linear grooves, often densely covering large expanses of rock face. Apart from the occasional axe, the art is not representational – there are no human or animal figures. Similar prehistoric rock art is found in Scotland from Galloway to Shetland, and in Ireland, Brittany and NW Spain.

Many people have tried to read a symbolism into these cup-and-ring marks, but we can only speculate about their original significance. Such rock art is difficult to date, but it is also found in archaeological contexts such as tombs. It is clear that the potential date range is very long, from around 3500 to around 1000 BC. The Kilmartin Glen rock art, including that at Ballygowan, is likely to be around 5,000 years old.

Rock art at Ballygowan

The design of the decoration at Ballygowan is relatively simple, although it has been developed to form a quite intricate pattern. There are a number of hollows (cups), a few of which are surrounded by one or more rings. These cup-and-ring marks have additional grooves (gutters) linking the cup-and-rings together. The interesting feature here is that none of the carvings obviously overlap each other, unlike at the other Kilmartin rock-art sites (such as ). Perhaps Ballygowan was executed over a relatively short period of time?