Introduction
This evening, I am focusing on the intriguing prehistoric rock carvings at Achnabreck. This site is located at the southern tip of Kilmartin Glen which is heavily populated with prehistoric monuments. Nearest town is Lochgilphead which is about 83 miles west of Glasgow.
Information on the carvings
This concentration of motifs were picked out of exposed sheets of metamorphic rock (tremolite-chlorite-schist). The rock surfaces have been rendered smooth by the movements of ice sheets over the millennia.
It is not possible to date the carvings with certainty. However, I work on the assumption they are contemporary with stone circle building, somewhere around the period 3000 BC to 1000 BC. (This period spans the Late Neolithic to Middle Bronze Ages.)
The underlying feature of the carvings is one of concentric rings at the centre of which sits a ‘cup’. There are variations on this theme with motifs featuring spirals, cups with ducts and ringed enclosures. All these were laboriously pecked out of the hard rock by experts with stone tools. There is no consensus as to the interpretation of the carvings.They must have been important because most of the population would have been engaged in a daily survival exercise. Maybe they represent an early form of specialisation in a primitive economy?
A feature of the carvings-whether by happenstance or design-is in regard to visibility.Clarity of the carvings diminishes at midday but radically improves in low sunlight and wet conditions. This video clip below demonstrates the latter.
Visitors should note that the type of carvings are not unique to Achnabreck. Similar style carvings can be found in other parts of Scotland.
Achnabreck is accessible along a combination of dirt road and walking trail. The site is worthy of a visit for those interested in (and wish to ponder further) our prehistoric past. A visit to Achnabreck can be incorporated in a tour of the Kilmartin Glen site.
More information
The publication Visitors’ Guide to Scotland includes a section on Kilmartin Glen and Achnabreck. This is in context of a a wide range of further information for the visitor to Scotland. ISBN of the book is 978-1-9161332-0-4. Also available via Kindle.