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Blackshaw Quarry cup and ring marked rock is a prehistoric carved stone located in Ayrshire, Scotland, situated some 320 metres south of Blackshaw Quarry. The rock bears cup and ring markings, a form of rock art created by Bronze Age communities across Britain and Ireland. These designs, comprising circular depressions surrounded by concentric rings pecked into the stone surface, remain enigmatic in purpose, though they may have held ritual, territorial or astronomical significance for the societies that created them.
The monument rests upon bedrock of the Stratheden Group, a Late Devonian formation composed of interbedded sandstone and conglomerate. This geological setting was shaped during the ancient collision of continents hundreds of millions of years before human occupation of the landscape. The underlying geology would have been familiar to Bronze Age carvers, who selected natural rock outcrops for their artistic expression across the Ayrshire region.
The rock is protected by Historic Environment Scotland under designation SM4429, recognising its importance as an archaeological record of prehistoric artistic and possibly ceremonial practice. Cup and ring marked rocks remain among Scotland's most enduring yet least understood monuments, their creators and precise meanings lost to time, yet their presence testifying to the cultural richness of Bronze Age communities in this region.
Blackshaw Quarry,cup & ring marked rock 320m S of is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM4429. View the official record →
Blackshaw Quarry cup and ring marked rock is a prehistoric carved stone located in Ayrshire, Scotland, situated some 320 metres south of Blackshaw Quarry. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM4429.
Blackshaw Quarry,cup & ring marked rock 320m S of is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic Environment Scotland — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Scotland. The official designation reference is SM4429.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Knock Jargon,cairn & fort (1.1 km), Bushglen Mount,ENE of Bushglen (2.5 km), Boydston Braes,motte (3.7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Blackshaw Quarry,cup & ring marked rock 320m S of's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Blackshaw Quarry,cup & ring marked rock 320m S of stands on Stratheden Group, bedrock that formed in the Late Devonian. The rock here is sandstone and conglomerate, interbedded.