Find Spot record MHG53741 - Quernstone, Culnakirk, Drumnadrochit

A possible quernstone or pivot stone found during a watching brief at a site N of Culnakirk Farm, near Drumnadrochit. Recovered from the topsoil during clearance, the schist stone was found at NH 49806 32119. The current dimensions of the find are 40cm long by 35cm wide and 15cm high, although the stone has one broken section. Projecting the intact dimensions of the object shows it would have measured 40cm wide by 42cm long. There is one circular, central perforation on one side of the stone measuring 8cm in diameter. The perforation shows a raised circular rim 4cm wide around the top of the hole and a shallow ring of circumferential wear <1cm wide around the base of the perforation. The stone itself has high mica content with circular quartz intrusion lines encircling the shape of the stone.

It is interpreted as an unfinished rotary quernstone upper stone. The perforation is smoothed around the interior and its base is rough and flat. The perforation also has a slight circular groove around the edge of its base although the central area is not smoothed or worn by use. This suggests that work to completely perforate the stone for use as an upper rotary quern stone was in progress. The underside of the schist stone was also shaped flat for use as a quern and was also not worn by use. As well, there is also no evidence of a handle socket perforation on the upper side of the stone However, one side of the stone is broken and this could have taken place during construction of a side handle socket and would explain why the stone was discarded. Finally, the symmetrical raised lip around the perforation does resemble Iron Age bun-shaped quernstones.

It is also possible that the schist stone was a pivot stone, perhaps holding a door shaft or mill shaft although there
is no use-wear to support this. It is considered that this find may be prehistoric, within a layer of undisturbed topsoil. <1>