Post by cerridwen on Aug 19, 2009 5:03:29 GMT
Ancient stone artwork discovered
bbcnews.co.uk
Prehistoric artwork has been discovered by an amateur archaeologist at a Perthshire mountain range.
The ancient carvings were discovered by rock art enthusiast George Currie at Ben Lawers, near Loch Tay.
Mr Currie discovered a piece of rock which has more than 90 cup marks, which are circular depressions in the stone.
Some of the cups have rings around them and a number of linear grooves can also be seen, with some still showing the individual blows of craftsmens' tools.
Similar discoveries have been made in the area, but it is unusual to find so many markings on the one stone.
The purpose of the artworks are still unknown.
Derek Alexander, archaeologist for the National Trust for Scotland, said: "This is an exciting find as it shows that there remains undiscovered prehistoric rock art to be found in the Scottish hills.
"More surprising are the quantity and variety of the symbols displayed on this boulder.
"Through both targeted research by professional archaeologists and the work of dedicated amateurs like George Currie we now know that Ben Lawers forms one of the major concentrations of cup and ring marks in the Highlands, which suggests it was a very significant landscape in prehistory."