Excavating rock art in Strath Tay day 4: Cleaning back the main trench

Above: Ronnie and Moyra clean back the trench, revealing shallow terraces which are separated by low outcrops (Photo: Aaron Watson),

Above: Cup marks on the main outcrop (Photo: Aaron Watson)

Above: An elevated photo shows the relationship between the new trench and the cup marked rock. The trenches excavated in 2017 are clearly visible (Photo: Aaron Watson)

Around lunchtime, our good friend George Currie drops in to see how things are going. George has found enormous numbers of new rock art sites across Scotland, so we ask him to take a look at some of the possible examples we have uncovered.

Above: George Currie inspects a possible cup mark on an outlying boulder, but is unconvinced (Photo: Aaron Watson)

Above: George considers the cup mark we have found within the boundaries of the trench and is more confident that this is prehistoric (Photo: Aaron Watson)

Above: Lunch break overlooking our work, showing the stepped slope (Photo: Aaron Watson)

By the end of the day, we have completed the first clean back across the trench. This has revealed a scatter of cobbles, the edges of which appear to be defined by stones. Some of these stones are rich in white quartz.

Above: An aerial view of the trench (Photo: Aaron Watson)

The 2018 excavations in Strath Tay were co-directed by Richard Bradley and Aaron Watson, assisted by Ronnie Scott and Moyra Simon. Many thanks to the landowner and estate staff for their support.