<< Our Photo Pages >> Ballochroy - Stone Row / Alignment in Scotland in Argyll

Submitted by Andy B on Tuesday, 01 October 2002  Page Views: 14753

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Ballochroy Alternative Name: Balochroy
Country: Scotland County: Argyll Type: Stone Row / Alignment
Nearest Town: Tarbert  Nearest Village: Clachan
Map Ref: NR7309352426  Landranger Map Number: 62
Latitude: 55.712000N  Longitude: 5.61373W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
 3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 2 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
 4 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
 5

Internal Links:
External Links:

I have visited· I would like to visit

kenhedges SumDoood would like to visit

SandyG visited on 15th Mar 2017 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 4 Car parking is available at NR 72587 52099 which involves a long walk north along the beach or highway to NR 72992 52713 where the track to the stones leaves the public road. Alternatively you may wish to drive up the track and seek permission to park closer to the stones. The stones themselves are easy to find and are relatively close to a prominent modern farm building.

Bladup have visited here

Ballochroy
Ballochroy submitted by howe : The three stone row viewed in a traditionally reported solistial alignment with the paps of Jura. In fact, antiquarial descriptions of the site show that the row was linearly aligned with three cairns and a further standing stone directed toward a hill on the mainland. Onlt one cist of the cairns is now visible. (Vote or comment on this photo)
A Row of Three Stones (Alignment) in Argyll, one of which has broken.

Area: Kintyre Peninsula

Update September 2019: This stone row is recorded as Canmore ID 38960, which mentions discussions by MacKie, Thom and Moir, about use of these stones and their associated cist as a "1st millennium BC Solstitial Observatory".

The Stone Rows of Great Britain website also includes an entry for this site - see their page for Ballochroy, which includes a description, photographs of the alignment and the individual stones, a plan of the stone row from a recent survey in March 2017, plus access information.

The SRoGB states "(the stones are) aligned on a cist. (The alignment) may have originally included four stones and three cairns".
You may be viewing yesterday's version of this page. To see the most up to date information please register for a free account.


Ballochroy
Ballochroy submitted by Bladup : Ballochroy stone row with the Paps of Jura behind. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Ballochroy
Ballochroy submitted by postman : Looking out to sea and Gigha (Vote or comment on this photo)

Ballochroy
Ballochroy submitted by postman : Three stones and the cist (Vote or comment on this photo)

Ballochroy
Ballochroy submitted by postman : One of the great short stone rows (Vote or comment on this photo)

Ballochroy
Ballochroy submitted by postman : The big cist and the isle of Gigha on the horizon.

Ballochroy
Ballochroy submitted by postman : Looking over the big cist to the stone row.

Ballochroy
Ballochroy submitted by postman : What do you think of the show so far ? Time to go I reckon.

Ballochroy
Ballochroy submitted by postman : Bye stones, a zoomed goodbye.

Ballochroy
Ballochroy submitted by howe : View of the cist with the three stone row aligned in the background

Ballochroy
Ballochroy submitted by howe : The cist associated with one of three original cairns aligned with the stone row.

Ballochroy
Ballochroy submitted by cosmic : Ballochroy Stone Row.

Ballochroy
Ballochroy submitted by SandyG : Plan of the Ballochroy stone row. From a survey by Sandy Gerrard at 1:100.

Ballochroy
Ballochroy submitted by SandyG : Cist, row and sheep.

Ballochroy
Ballochroy submitted by SandyG : The nearby cist. The row is aligned on this structure, but which came first?

Ballochroy
Ballochroy submitted by SandyG : View from south east with Isle of Jura popping out from behind the clouds.

Ballochroy
Ballochroy submitted by SandyG : View from north east. The row is aligned on a cist.

Ballochroy
Ballochroy submitted by SandyG : View from north.

Ballochroy
Ballochroy submitted by SandyG : View from WSW. Unusually the stones are not aligned along the length of the row. The two northern stones are set at right angles to the row alignment.

Ballochroy
Ballochroy submitted by SandyG : View from SSW.

Ballochroy
Ballochroy submitted by SandyG : View from south.

Ballochroy
Ballochroy submitted by Bladup : Ballochroy stone row with the Paps of Jura behind.

Ballochroy
Ballochroy submitted by Bladup : Ballochroy stone row.

Ballochroy
Ballochroy submitted by Bladup : Ballochroy cist with the row behind.

Ballochroy
Ballochroy submitted by postman : Inside the big cist

These are just the first 25 photos of Ballochroy. If you log in with a free user account you will be able to see our entire collection.

Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.
Click here to see more info for this site

Nearby sites

Click here to view sites on an interactive OS map

Key: Red: member's photo, Blue: 3rd party photo, Yellow: other image, Green: no photo - please go there and take one, Grey: site destroyed

Download sites to:
KML (Google Earth)
GPX (GPS waypoints)
CSV (Garmin/Navman)
CSV (Excel)

To unlock full downloads you need to sign up as a Contributory Member. Otherwise downloads are limited to 50 sites.

Stones of Wonder by Robert Pollock
Stone Pages Tour by Arosio and Meozzi
Megalithic Mysteries by Andy Burnham
Stone Rows of Great Britain by Sandy Gerrard

STILE by Clive Ruggles


Turn off the page maps and other distractions

Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 1.7km NNE 21° Correchrevie Cairn* Cairn (NR738540)
 4.9km NE 38° Dun Skeig* Hillfort (NR76315612)
 5.5km ENE 61° Loch Ciaran* Standing Stone (Menhir) (NR78035479)
 7.2km W 280° Cnoc nan Gobhar Stone* Standing Stone (Menhir) (NR6607454042)
 7.4km W 273° Kinerarach (Gigha)* Standing Stone (Menhir) (NR6568453210)
 7.5km W 266° Tarbert (Gigha)* Standing Stone (Menhir) (NR6554952292)
 7.6km W 267° Old Wife's Grave, The (Gigha, Isle of) Cairn (NR655524)
 8.1km NNE 16° Ardpatrick* Standing Stone (Menhir) (NR757601)
 8.8km WSW 244° Ardminish Cist (NR64954890)
 8.9km WSW 248° Druimyeonbeg (Isle of Gigha) Cairn (NR64634958)
 9.3km N 4° Carse Standing Stones East* Standing Stones (NR7424661640)
 9.3km N 3° Carse Standing Stones West* Standing Stone (Menhir) (NR74146166)
 9.6km WSW 241° Cnoc na Croise (Gigha) Cairn (NR64394828)
 9.8km NNE 22° Tobar Cill'An Aonghais* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (NR772613)
 9.8km WSW 241° Cnoc na Carraigh Ogham Stone* Sculptured Stone (NR6426548173)
 9.9km SSW 200° Beacharra* Standing Stone (Menhir) (NR69264332)
 9.9km WSW 241° Cnoc na Carraigh (Gigha) Standing Stone (Menhir) (NR64204806)
 10.6km WSW 238° Bodach and Cailleach* Standing Stones (NR638473)
 10.8km WSW 244° Ardlamey Cairn (NR63094825)
 11.2km SSW 197° North Beachmore (Muasdale) Standing Stone (Menhir) (NR69284184)
 12.1km NNW 347° Kilberry* Sculptured Stone (NR709643)
 12.3km SSE 146° Brackley* Chambered Cairn (NR79374187)
 14.2km SSW 198° South Muasdale Standing Stone (Menhir) (NR6792239154)
 14.6km NNW 348° Cretshengan* Standing Stone (Menhir) (NR70726689)
 14.7km ENE 63° Glenreasdale* Chambered Cairn (NR866583)
View more nearby sites and additional images

<< Dooleeg More

Clenamacrie Stone Row >>

Please add your thoughts on this site

Contribute!

· NEW: I have visited
· I would like to visit
· Submit an Image
· Add a description
· Give accurate position
· Add a comment or news about this site

Kilmartin Sounds of Ancient Scotland Ancient Music CD

Kilmartin Sounds of Ancient Scotland Ancient Music CD

Web Links for Ballochroy

Stones of Wonder by Robert Pollock
Stone Pages Tour by Arosio and Meozzi
Megalithic Mysteries by Andy Burnham
Stone Rows of Great Britain by Sandy Gerrard

Archived Web links for Ballochroy

STILE by Clive Ruggles

Sponsors

Auto-Translation (Google)

Translate from English into:

"Ballochroy" | Login/Create an Account | 4 News and Comments
  
Go back to top of page    Comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.
Re: The Southern Kintyre Project extract - social interactions in prehistory by SumDoood on Thursday, 09 November 2017
(User Info | Send a Message)
In the BBC's 'Cracking the Stone Age Code' Magnus Magnusson and Prof Thom spend quite a while here at Ballochroy: https://youtu.be/i6I1eD-4pto.
[ Reply to This ]

Re: The Southern Kintyre Project extract - social interactions in prehistory by Orpbit on Tuesday, 20 October 2015
(User Info | Send a Message)
Quote:

"Kintyre also has a fine collection of standing stones, from single stones to multiple stones, for example at Ballochroy (Fig. 1.5). The association of a cist with the standing stones here is suggestive of a Bronze Age date, although not definitively demonstrated. The 38 documented panels of rock art may also date to this period (RCAHMS 1971, 52-61; Stevenson 1997)."

- although not definitively demonstrated -

The stones appeared to me to very strongly represent something astronomical in addition to the promoted archaeological/archaeoastronomical consensus of one of Alexander Thom's solstitial sites that never was - except by coincidence (Burl) regarding the mid-winter solstice to southwest. Largely also due to the work of Clive Ruggles in demolishing the degree of accuracy achievable at prehistoric astronomical observatories, not the least at Scottish sites.

I turned my gaze to Scottish sites for the first time recently, starting at Ballochroy/Kintraw, in the wake of my research way down south!
Using conclusions from that research, I believe I have convincingly dated the stones to around the 3000BC epoch. Furthermore, the accuracy to which the stones have been laid out reflect an observational accuracy of the builders to 1/6 of a degree, exactly "on the money" as per my starting hypothesis. This puts a completely different perspective on why Kintraw was brought into play - a scientific objective to increase the accuracy of their "instrumentation" of the day!

The authors' should keep their comment well in mind.

Look to Academia.edu for my report coming shortly.
[ Reply to This ]

The Southern Kintyre Project extract - social interactions in prehistory by Andy B on Monday, 28 September 2015
(User Info | Send a Message)
The Southern Kintyre Project: Exploring interactions across the Irish Sea from the Mesolithic to the Bronze Age. Vicki Cummings and Gary Robinson
BAR British Series 618 2015

Extract: Chapter 1. Social interactions in prehistory and the Southern Kintyre Project

This project was conceived a decade ago in response to a growing area of research in prehistoric studies. Vicki had been looking at Neolithic monuments either side of the Irish Sea, as well as thinking about movements by people in prehistory. Gary had researching movements by boat around the Scilly Isles alongside investigations of how people conceived the sea. Our two strands of research sat alongside other work on seascapes, movements on the sea and cultural interactions being investigated at the time (see chapter one). It therefore seemed timely to pool our different research interests and investigate some key research questions by investigating one region in detail. The main aim, as outlined in this volume, was thus to try and get a better sense of cultural interactions between communities in the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age through a detailed investigation of one particular area, with a focus on considerations of interactions across the sea.

Kintyre offered the perfect case study area. While still attached to the Scottish mainland, it is also surrounded on virtually all sides by the sea. Interactions in prehistory would have had the potential to be both by boat and by land. Indeed, Kintyre is the closest point on mainland Britain to Ireland, just 12 miles away, so there may have been interactions by boat with both other parts of Scotland as well as Ireland. However, very little archaeological research had been conducted in Kintyre prior to this project. A few high profile excavations of chambered cairns had taken place by Jack Scott (notably Beacharra and Brackley), and the odd tantalising find had been uncovered, such as the hoard of Antrim flint axes and flakes at Achinoan (Saville 1999).

The nature of social interactions between different communities in prehistory has been discussed by generations of scholars. From early considerations of the impact of movements of people bringing new innovations from overseas, to more nuanced considerations of a diverse range of interactions via the sea, exchange networks and kin relations, the exact nature of social interaction in prehistory still remains little explored. The Southern Kintyre Project was set up with the explicit aim of exploring this issue in more detail through the investigation of different types of material culture and architecture, from the Mesolithic through to the Bronze Age. As outlined above, this region has not seen extensive research over the years, but its vicinity to eastern Ireland and other areas of western Scotland made it an ideal case study for further investigation

Read more at: https://www.academia.edu/14436461/The_Southern_Kintyre_Project_Exploring_interactions_across_the_Irish_Sea_from_the_Mesolithic_to_the_Bronze_Age._Vicki_Cummings_and_Gary_Robinson

The full monograph is available from BAR http://www.barpublishing.com/the-southern-kintyre-project.html

See also PAST No. 55, from page 12 on
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prehistoric/past/past55.pdf
[ Reply to This ]
    Re: The Southern Kintyre Project extract - social interactions in prehistory by Andy B on Monday, 28 September 2015
    (User Info | Send a Message)
    Media for Movement and Making the World: Exploring Materials and Identity in the Mesolithic of the Northern Irish Sea Basin

    Archaeology, School of Arts, Histories and Cultures, University of Manchester

    This paper provides an account of the author's current doctoral research into the Mesolithic period in the northern Irish Sea basin and western Scotland. It explores the extent to which modern understandings of the world and modern geo-political boundaries have been responsible for shaping studies of the period in the area and questions how such interpretations may be re-evaluated. In doing so this paper outlines a series of alternative approaches to understanding hunter gatherer identity, exploring how identity intersects with sensual material engagements and understandings of place. It outlines a way to explore such elements in practice, and presents some initial interpretations of the material that have arisen from the study. This in turn suggests that such an approach may be potentially significant in providing a more detailed, socially situated understanding of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers and the changes that such populations underwent during the transition to farming in the northern Irish Sea basin.

    http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue22/6/index.html
    [ Reply to This ]

Your Name: Anonymous [ Register Now ]
Subject:


Add your comment or contribution to this page. Spam or offensive posts are deleted immediately, don't even bother

<<< What is five plus one as a number? (Please type the answer to this question in the little box on the left)
You can also embed videos and other things. For Youtube please copy and paste the 'embed code'.
For Google Street View please include Street View in the text.
Create a web link like this: <a href="https://www.megalithic.co.uk">This is a link</a>  

Allowed HTML is:
<p> <b> <i> <a> <img> <em> <br> <strong> <blockquote> <tt> <li> <ol> <ul> <object> <param> <embed> <iframe>
We would like to know more about this location. Please feel free to add a brief description and any relevant information in your own language.
Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
Quisieramos informarnos un poco más de las lugares. No dude en añadir una breve descripción y otros datos relevantes en su propio idioma.