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Ellen Laird

@ellaird.bsky.social
235 followers 186 following 118 posts

Prehistory and rock art | Nature enthusiast | Swimming outdoors | A good coffee makes my day

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Reposted by Ellen Laird
Kevin Wilbraham @kpw1453.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The Ballachulish figure which was discovered in a bog at Ballachulish in Inverness-shire. The figure dates to the Iron Age, and was possibly a goddess. Now part of the collections at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. 📸 My own. #Woodensday #IronAge #Ballachulish
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Ellen Laird @ellaird.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
An Iron Age cist eroding out of a quarried cliff edge at the House of the Binns, West Lothian #TombTuesday journals.socantscot.org/index.php/ps...
Two sides and the base of a cist eroding out of the edge of a cliff.
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Dr Susan Greaney @suegreaney.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Just been reading about incredible prehistoric petroglyphs in South Korea at Bangudae, depicting whales, human figures and 74 other land and sea animals: www.world-archaeology.com/travel/cwa-t...
world-archaeology.com
CWA travels to The Petroglyphs of Bangudae - World Archaeology
How often do you visit a rock-art site armed only with binoculars? You do at Bangudae, on South Korea's east coast, and with good reason, as Brian Fagan discovered on a recent trip to the region.
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Ellen Laird @ellaird.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Exploring newly discovered prehistoric rock art at An Tor, above Aberfeldy #StandingStoneSunday
Grey lichen-covered stone with a cup and ring mark. Grey and blue skies above damp grass and woods.A large, deep cup mark, filled with rain.
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Tim Daw @timdaw.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Which Neolithic megaliths were hauled long-distance, and which just used the nearest outcrop? An interactive gazetteer of every petrographically-matched haul in Europe — Stonehenge included, easy to exclude. www.sarsen.org/2026/09/euro...
European Anthropic Megalithic Transport Interactive Gazetteer
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Adrián Maldonado @archaeonado.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Coolest thing about this story is a brilliant case of the past in the past: the 5.5m tall "Battle Cross" now in Aldborough, dated to the 15th c, is now proven to have been carved from one of the Devil's Arrows standing stones
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AnnieSAnderson @anniescottarch.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Amazing #Arran rock art on. Stronach ridge
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Dr Toby Driver @drtobydriver.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Some good work here 👌 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Cave art discovery suggests first humans in Ireland came from Wales
During the most recent Ice Age, researchers believe there was a "lost land bridge" between Wales and Ireland.
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Kenny Brophy @urbanprehistorian.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
A nice selection of some of our nicest finds at #CamphillDig26 - and they do indeed show that this drumlin overlooking the Clyde Valley has been popular for millennia!
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Bygone Bungo @bygonebungo.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Was up there at #CamphillDig26 for the open day today, though they welcome visitors during the week too. Great stuff!
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Tuatha @tuatha.ie · 23/08/2026
The Boheh Stone is a large boulder outcrop in the environs of Clew Bay in County Mayo. The stone bears remarkable prehistoric rock art. With more than 250 motifs evident, it is one of the most highly decorated stones that features this style of art to be found in Ireland. #Ireland #SpéirGhorm
A large lichen and mossy lump of bedrock outcrop, covered with prehistoric art of concentric circles and hollows
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The Smell of Water @smellofwater.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Prehistoric Rock Art – Allan Tofts Back in the early 2000’s I spent some time exploring the Prehistoric rock art of Allan Tofts on the North York Moors. Many of my images from that time have been lost. Here’s a few that I managed to salvage. On visiting the moor recently, I noticed that a number…
teessidepsychogeography.wordpress.com
Prehistoric Rock Art – Allan Tofts
Back in the early 2000’s I spent some time exploring the Prehistoric rock art of Allan Tofts on the North York Moors. Many of my images from that time have been lost. Here’s a few that I managed to salvage. On visiting the moor recently, I noticed that a number of these stones have disappeared beneath the peat. A few can still be found, the carvings can be quite subtle so are be seen when the sun is low and casting shadows.
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Ellen Laird @ellaird.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
#StandingStoneSunday Gardoms Edge.
A sharks fin of a standing stone in amongst birch trees and dry grass.
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Ellen Laird @ellaird.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Standing stone at Gardoms Edge.
A grey granite standing stone looking like a sharks' fin.
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Kevin Wilbraham @kpw1453.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
The remains of the bathhouse at Bar Hill Roman Fort on the Antonine Wall, near Twechar in East Dunbartonshire. The fort is the highest of the 16 known forts on the wall. 📸 My own. #RomanFortThursday #RomanScotland #BarHill
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Gavin MacGregor @gavinmacgregor.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
And grey lazy Sundays, strangely I find myself thinking about those standing stones in museum collections... surely they are happier in the landscape, moss and lichen, birds perching. Changing light & seasons, glowing with sunrise. Or perhaps that's just us? #standingstonesunday #archaeology
Standing stone in corridor of museum, images manipulated so contrast of grey green mood allows rock art carvings to stand out more.  Series of wavy lines and two large cup and ring mark motifs. Large cup and ring, spiral like, motifs. With splash of pale red added digitally as if to evoke a low sun
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Claire Boardman @claireboardman.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
One of my favourite archaeological illustrations for #standingstonesunday - the Pictish Clach a' Charridh (Shandwick Stone) #archaeology ⚱️ From: highlandpictishtrail.co.uk/project/art-... Image: ©Crown Copyright HES, Ian G Scott.
Intricate black and white, archaeological illustration / technical drawing of the Pictish (c. 780) Clach a' Charridh (Shandwick Stone); 2.7m high by c. 1m wide by 21cm thick and containing a cross, shield, realistic animals and geometric animals.
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Pete Crane @petecrane.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Only two stones are left of Loanend circle in Aberdeenshire but the recumbent is a biggie at 4.2m wide and 1.9m high #StandingStoneSunday More pics on @megalithic.bsky.social here www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?...
A huge recumbent stone under the shadow of nature trees. The single remaining standing stone is in the distance at the right hand side of the photo.
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Kevin Wilbraham @kpw1453.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Leaf-bladed prehistoric flint arrowheads from Yorkshire. Now part of the collections at the Yorkshire Museum in York. 📸 My own. #FlintFriday #YorkshireMuseum
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Ellen Laird @ellaird.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Bronze Age hut circles in the hills above Gairloch.
A ruckle of stones in a loose circular shape. Mist and mountains in the background.
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Ellen Laird @ellaird.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Strathblane churchyard #StandingStoneSunday
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Ronnie Neilson @ronnie11.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
Clach na Sgoltadh or Stone of the Cleaving. Also known as Praying Hands of Mary. A walk through Glen Lyon with friends yesterday afternoon. @stoneclub.bsky.social @megalithic.bsky.social
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Ellen Laird @ellaird.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Recording prehistoric rock art above Loch Tay yesterday #StandingStoneSunday
A large earthfast boulder lies on a steep meadow above Loch Tay. The sky is a gloomy grey, with low mist over hills.
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Kevin Wilbraham @kpw1453.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
The ‘Hill o’ Many Stanes’, near Wick in Caithness. The monument probably dates to the Bronze Age and consists of around 200 small stones arranged in ‘rough’ rows over the southern slope of a small hill. 📸 My own. #StandingStoneSunday #Prehistory #Caithness #Archaeology
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The Megalithic Portal Ancient Sites & Stones @megalithic.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Val Sterla: This Alpine boulder carries unusual, deep, almond-shaped incisions amongst prehistoric cup marks. Most striking are the elegantly cup-tipped crosses cut much later by the shepherds whose huts still stand alongside, possibly to 'Christianise' the rock.
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This Is My Glasgow @thisismyglasgow.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
The rather fabulous first floor window surrounds on Alexander 'Greek' Thomson's 1870s Egyptian Halls on Union Street in central Glasgow. The quality of the intricate design, and the stonework, is just exquisite! #glasgow #architecture #architecturephotography #egyptianhalls #windows
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Stef North-Sagrott @archaeostef.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Really excited that this is finally out there! My colleagues in HES Geophysics carried out a survey at Machrie Moor and discovered the sockets of a previously unknown circle which could have held either wood or stone! www.ardrossanherald.com/news/2624005...
ardrossanherald.com
New discovery at Machrie Moor shows evidence of earlier stone or timber circles
Archaeologists reveal stunning discovery on Arran's Machrie Moor
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chrisull.bsky.social @chrisull.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
45 years after my father, who would have been 100, proposed we visit Arbor Low, I finally made the trip, on my own. Photos don’t do justice to this stunning recumbent (and to my mind intentionally recumbent, no post holes) stone circle, one of the UK’s best. A magical place. #StandingStoneSunday
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Mark Walters @mark-walters.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Lordenshaw hillfort is surrounded by earlier rock art on boulders & outcrops. The rock art is quite varied with cups, cup & ring and my favourites by far the cup & channel stones. The main Channel Stone has an enhanced natural groove with a series of cups at the top. Must look great in wet weather.
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Dr Izzy Wisher @izzywisher.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Had the surreal experience today of receiving a lovely email from @douglarkin.bsky.social about how my Aeon article inspired his band to make a song about cave art! I *highly* recommend (although I’m biased) giving it a listen here: cuppajoeband.bandcamp.com/album/k-vart
cuppajoeband.bandcamp.com
K-Vart, by Cuppa Joe
14 track album
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AnnieSAnderson @anniescottarch.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
It's #SouterrainSaturday from #Tealing with magnificent #rockart
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Ellen Laird @ellaird.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Machrie Moor #StandingStoneSunday
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Tom Hughes @tomtelltale.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Summer solstice sunrise at the Twelve Apostles near Dumfries.
Sunlight showing dazzling rays through a notch in a megalith.A haze of light along the horizon ahead of sunrise.  An oak tree and a megalith are seen as silhouettes.A photograph of a megalith in the stone circle amid long grass with the sun beginning to show on the horizon.The sun shining as it has risen above the horizon, casting light over the field of long grasses and wildflowers.  In the foreground is a fallen megalith with harebells growing in a crack in the stone.
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Jack O’ Lantern 🎃 @muninnherself.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
#DailyMegalith #StandingStoneSunday St-Pierre-Quiberon Alignement, aka Le Moulin de St Pierre Quiberon #StPierreQuiberon #Morbihan #Brittany #France (2022) 🏺
A large, lumpy standing stone in the foreground with three or more behind it and a couple of others visible also. It is a baking hot September day. The grass is scorched and brown. This little bit of alignment is tucked in between some houses on the Quiberon Peninsula. The stones cross the road and head for the sea, but these are the most visible.
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Dark Galloway @darkgalloway.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
The Wren's Egg, a glacial erratic accompanied by a pair of small standing stones, aligned to the Midwinter Sunset, in the Machars of Galloway. #Scotland #AncientHistory #StandingStoneSunday #blackandwhitephotography #SouthernScotland
Atmospheric black and white photo of a ground-fast boulder in a grassy field. There are trees in the middle distance and dramatic dark clouds above.
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Ellen Laird @ellaird.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Stronach standing stone, Brodick #StandingStoneSunday
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Ellen Laird @ellaird.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Torrylin chambered cairn in the south of Arran. With sea views towards Ailsa Craig. #TombTuesday
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Ellen Laird @ellaird.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Machrie Moor #StandingStoneSunday
A large sandstone, irregular in shape and hairy with lichen, stands in a grassy moor. The blue sea can be glimpsed in the distance.
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Ellen Laird @ellaird.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Rock art at Stronach Wood above Brodick.
A sloping slab of rock surrounded by blaeberry and dark conifers. The rock face is lit by bright sunlight, highlighting large keyhole motifs.Close up of a section of the rock panel with keyhole motif, and oval cup marks.
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Ellen Laird @ellaird.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
# StandingStone in Kildonan. Pladda and Ailsa Craig in the background.
Standing Stone in Kildonan, with Ailsa Craig and Pladda in the background.
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Kenny Brophy @urbanprehistorian.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Fantastic photos of Ludovic Mann held in his archive with HistEnvScot in Edinburgh. These photos were curated by the Applebey family and a fantastic insight into Scottish archaeology in the 1920s and 1930s. #TheManntheMyth
Ludovic Mann (left) and the Strathblane  standing stoneLudovic Mann (front) during excavations with a troop of Boy Scouts in Argyll
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Ellen Laird @ellaird.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
North Sannox Cairn, the Isle of Arran.
A stocky stone amidst a pile of moss covered boulders. Bluebells in the foreground with high hills rising in the distance.
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Ellen Laird @ellaird.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
A beautiful day exploring Machrie Moor yesterday. This stone is part of a cairn and is surrounded by a jumble of stones, braken and butterflies. Behind it, the Kilbrannan Sound and Kintyre Peninsula
Fin-shaped standing stone on a Moor with the sea and sky beyond.
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Ellen Laird @ellaird.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
On Machrie Moor, Arran.
A huge, lichen - covered, red sandstone standing stone in the foreground against a blue sky. Hills rise behind.
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Kenny Brophy @urbanprehistorian.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
My new #UrbanPrehistory blog post reporting on the horrible fate of the Bogleys Stone of Fife - Barn Storm. This contains a trigger warning for anyone who thinks our heritage - and megaliths - matter. With thanks to Sam McKeand theurbanprehistorian.wordpress.com/2026/05/19/b...
theurbanprehistorian.wordpress.com
Barn Storm
It is not often I get angry, but a recent encounter with a standing stone has really annoyed – and shocked me. I am pretty used to prehistory being badly treated, and indeed a whole chapter o…
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Enricharch @enricharch.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
#TombTuesday and the fabulous Cairnholy II in Dumfries and Galloway. #Neolithic #ChamberedTomb
Black and white image of the facade of Cairnholy I chambered tomb in Dumfries and Galloway. The facade is made up of nine upright stones of different heights. Most are broadly rectangular except for the triangular one on the left of photo.
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Hugo Anderson-Whymark @hugowhymark.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
A lovely sunny day. Great for carving stone in the garden - a pestle macehead and a carved stone ball made today
A pestle macehead and a carved stone ball made by Hugo Anderson-Whymark
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Ben Potts @benjaminsteven.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
View from Gib Hill, Derbyshire. Part of the Arbor Low complex, A bronze age round barrow sits on top of a neolithic oval barrow. #TombTuesday
A grassy burial mound covered in dandelions with a view across rolling hills to other prehistoric burial mounds.
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Dark Galloway @darkgalloway.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Happy Beltane! Drumtroddan Rock Art, the Machars of Galloway. #blackandwhitephotography #Scotland #Galloway #SouthernScotland #History
Black and white photo of an oblique light on a rock revealing an ancient cup and ring mark. Trees are silhouetted against a sunset sky.
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Grahame Gardner 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 @scotdowser.mastodon.scot.ap.brid.gy · 26/04/2026
Five Wells chambered cairn in Derbyshire, the highest in England. A lovely walk up the hill from Chelmorton last Sunday. #StandingStoneSunday #Megalithic
Some standing stones, part of a megalithic chambered cairn on a hilltop with distant views.
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