Corstorphine Hill is located on the Western side of Edinburgh, just North of Edinburgh Zoo. Several known or possible archaeological sites exist there, but of primary interest is the series of cup-marked rocks located to the West of the highest summit. Click here for a location map provided by StreetMap. Click here for an aerial photograph provided by Multimap.
According to the CANMORE entry, one set of cup marks were discovered by R. Fulton in 1991. This set of cup marks are also referenced by the City of Edinburgh Council Ranger Service and also by Anna and Graham Ritchie in "Corstorphine Hill" published in PDF format by The Edinburgh Geological Society. Ritchie and Ritchie refer to this set of cup marks as "Neolithic or early Bronze Age (c3600-1500 BC)", and as existing on a "glacial pavement of dolerite". Judging by the photographs used in these references, what Fulton found in 1991, and what was previously acknowledged in the scant sources, was a single group of probably eleven cup marks, shown below:
The Group of Eleven Cup Marks
The Group of Eleven Cup Marks
However, on closer investigation, we found several more groups and individual cup marks. Immediately to the East (ie. further towards the summit), we found a group of four, with one large cup and three smaller cups of roughly equal sizes:
Group of Four
Further down the slope, slightly North-west, we found a group of two roughly equally-sized cups:
Group of Two
Again, further down the slope, but towards the South-east, we found a large single cup:
Large Single Cup
In between the group of two and the large single cup, we found another probable cup which basically aligns with the group of eleven and the group of four higher up the slope:
Small Single Cup
The apparently central axis of the groups of four and eleven with this smaller single cup points West, roughly in the region of Cairnpapple, and the setting sun!
If any other intrepid individuals believe they have found other groups or single cup marks around this site, feel free to let us know.