Overview
About this site
Overview
The Cat Stane, or Catstane, is an inscribed standing stone near Kirkliston, on the outskirts of Edinburgh, in Scotland. It bears a fragmentary inscription dating to the fifth or sixth centuries.
The stone was part of a funerary complex consisting of the stone itself, a cairn and a series of cist burials. It is a scheduled monument.
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Where it sits in time
The site's dated range, placed against world reference points.
The scale is logarithmic: each step to the left is about ten times older than the last.
Article
Cat Stane
The inscription, carved in a rough Latin script, appears to read IN OC T, MVLO IAC T, VETTA F, VICTR.
DescriptionSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Cat StaneCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Cat StaneCC BY-SA 4.0
The Cat Stane is an irregular standing stone of 1.3m height. It is heavily weathered but preserves an inscription in Latin, with several lacunas. The inscription, carved in a rough Latin script, appears to read IN OC T, MVLO IAC T, VETTA F, VICTR.
The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) interprets this as meaning: in this tomb lies Vetta daughter of Victricus. The text is therefore understood as a dedication to a deceased woman whose remains were interred near the stone.
DatingSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Cat StaneCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Cat StaneCC BY-SA 4.0
Dates have been ascribed to the stone and its inscription by considering the script used and the results of several excavations conducted in modern times. The stone appears to have been erected in the Bronze Age, while the inscription was added in the fifth or sixth centuries AD. During the latter period the area around modern Edinburgh was controlled by the nation known as either the Votadini or the Gododdin.
Research historySources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Cat StaneCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Cat StaneCC BY-SA 4.0
The earliest description of the Cat Stane was made by the Welsh scholar Edward Lhuyd in 1699. He described it as standing on a pavement of flat stones surrounding the remains of a low oval cairn. The first excavation of the stone's vicinity was conducted in 1860. Further excavation took place in 1864 and, most recently, 1977, when it was unsuccessfully proposed that the stone be removed from the grounds of Edinburgh airport. The excavations showed that the stone was surrounded by a series of burials in stone-lined graves known as cists. RCAHMS interprets the Cat Stane as a Bronze Age site re-used for burials in the fifth or sixth centuries.
VisitingSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Cat StaneCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Cat StaneCC BY-SA 4.0
The Cat Stane now lies within the perimeter of Edinburgh Airport, which makes it impossible for the general public to access it. Nearby is the confluence of the Gogar Burn and the River Almond.
Tradition and region
About this kind of monument
Prehistoric rock art and standing stones of Scotland
Most of the "megalith" records for Britain in the Atlas come from the Scottish register of monuments, and many are not standing stones at all but carved rocks. Cup and ring marks are a form of prehistoric art found along the Atlantic seaboard of Europe, in Ireland, Wales, northern England, Scotland, Brittany, Portugal and Galicia. They consist of a concave depression no more than a few centimetres across, pecked into a rock surface and often surrounded by concentric circles; sometimes a linear channel, called a gutter, leads out from the middle. They occur as petroglyphs on natural boulders and outcrops, and also as an element of megalithic art on worked stones, such as the slab cists of the Food Vessel culture, some stone circles and passage graves, and the capstones at Newgrange.
The richest area is Kilmartin Glen in Argyll, which has the most important concentration of Neolithic and Bronze Age remains in mainland Scotland. There are more than 800 ancient monuments within a ten-kilometre radius of the village, with 150 of them prehistoric, including standing stones, a henge, numerous cists and a linear cemetery of five burial cairns that runs over five kilometres. Several of the cairns, and many natural rocks, are decorated with cup and ring marks.
The meaning of the carvings is unknown. Megalithic art tends to be highly abstract, and its meaning is the subject of much debate. On natural outcrops the marks can be dated only broadly, so the Atlas gives a range from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age; on a worked stone of a dated monument they are at least as old as the monument.
When visiting, low light brings out the cups best. Please do not chalk or rub the carvings.
Paraphrased from Wikipedia: Cup and ring mark, Wikipedia: Kilmartin Glen, Wikipedia: Megalithic art, Wikipedia: Rock art · CC BY-SA 4.0
From the article
Dated moments in the story
- 1699
The earliest description of the Cat Stane was made by the Welsh scholar Edward Lhuyd in 1699 who described it as standing on a pavement of flat stones surrounding the remains of a low oval cairn.
Source - 1860
The first excavation of the stone's vicinity was conducted in 1860. Further excavation took place in 1864 and, most recently, 1977 when it was unsuccessfully proposed that the stone be removed from the grounds of Edinburgh airport.
Source
Photographs
3 photographs, each with its author and licence
More photographs
Lore
Evidence & Lore
What the sources actually support — and, kept apart, what has been claimed.
What the evidence supports
Dates
360–665 CEHow this date was established: Radiocarbon dating5 radiocarbon dates in the p3k14c database (Bird et al. 2022, Scientific Data 9:27 (p3k14c radiocarbon database)) between 1335 and 1585 BP; the range shown is the middle half of the measurements; uncalibrated ages, shown as calendar years with the conventional BP + 1950 conversion.Source for this date
Where it stands
United Kingdom
The pin marks the monument itself — its exact point.
- Coordinates
- 55°57′17″ N, 3°21′52″ WFor a GPS or map app: 55.95480, -3.36450
Access is as our sources describe it; we have not visited the site to check.
Nearby
The closest sites in the Atlas, by straight line.
Easter Norton Standing Stone2800–1800 BCE
Cammo Standing Stone2800–1800 BCE
standing stone 100m WNW of Lochend Farm2800–1800 BCE- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Earl Cairnie or Harlow Cairn,cairn,The Warrens4000–800 BCE
Tormain Hill,cup & ring marked rocks 700m NE of Bonnington Mains4000–2400 BCE- SteleDalmahoy,cross slab,St Mary's Church
- Menhir (standing stone)standing stone 110m SW of Aberdour Lodge2800–1800 BCE
- SteleBullion Stone
Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
3 sources behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q5051067wikidata.org
- 02Source for this datep3k14c.org
- 03Wikipedia: Cat Staneen.wikipedia.org
Image files
Report a correctionWrong date, name, photograph or source? Tell us and it will be put right.
Around this place
The ten nearest sites, by compass
- Easter Norton Standing Stone2.5 km S
- Cammo Standing Stone2.6 km E
- standing stone 100m WNW of Lochend Farm2.8 km SW
- Earl Cairnie or Harlow Cairn,cairn,The Warrens4.9 km N
- Tormain Hill,cup & ring marked rocks 700m NE of Bonnington Mains5.1 km S
- Dalmahoy,cross slab,St Mary's Church5.3 km S
- standing stone 110m SW of Aberdour Lodge10 km N
- Bullion Stone11 km E
- Woodwrae Stone11 km E
- North Wood, Dunfermline, cairn 140m NNW of crematorium12 km N
Credit
Text, licence and sources
Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Cat Stane" (English), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; authors are listed in the page history. Reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikipedia · Edit history and authors
- Wikipedia (English): Cat StaneCC BY-SA 4.0
- Wikidata Q5051067CC0