Gavin MacGregor
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gavinmacgregor.bsky.social
Gavin MacGregor
@gavinmacgregor.bsky.social
1.4K followers 310 following 150 posts
Archaeology Art
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Still set deep within its mound, eastern most of Dolmens de Mané-Kerioned.

Step down to the dark entrance, within remarkable decorated stones are found. A powerfully atmospheric monument that leaves a deep lasting impression

#Archaeology #prehistory #rockart #TombTuesday @megalithic.bsky.social
Entrance to monument, grey stones partially covered in moss, and fringed with grasses. Dark passage hides chamber beyond Hooded figure stands in passage silhouetted by light beyond Hooded figure stands in stone chamber looking at decorated stones forming wall, silhouetted by light from entrance Grey stone to left covered in incised geometric decoration around central raised boss. Orange stone to left with incised curvilinear decoration. Spaces between infilled with drystone walling.
November 4, 2025 at 6:58 AM
gavinmacgregor.bsky.social
Gavrinis is the most amazing megalithic site I have been privileged to visit. Taking a boat to reach, you encounter a remarkable concentration of #Neolithic rock art at a single megalithic monument. A deeply powerful & inspiring place.

@megalithic.bsky.social #rockart #archaeology #TombTuesday
Drystone facade with large megalithic stones forming entrance to passage entering large cairn Passage of cairn with large stone side slabs all covered incised decoration and with stone slab floor and capstones Large standing forming side slab of passage. Covered in incised decoration comprising rainbow 🌈 shaped forms, large ones in middle and smaller to side. View into large square chamber at end of passage. Two large decorated backslabs and massive single paving stone.
September 30, 2025 at 7:13 PM
gavinmacgregor.bsky.social
Penone is a wonderful artist, Ideas of Stone is like the cousin of the durational piece Stone Coppice by Andy Goldsworthy at Jupiter Artland
Woodland comprising copiced multi stem trees, held within branches are large angular grey boulders. Detail of multi stemmed trunk holding large grey boulder.
May 27, 2025 at 7:52 PM
gavinmacgregor.bsky.social
Cast

Upon

Anthropocene

Shores

@legolostatsea.bsky.social

#FindsFriday #FoundObject #ContemporaryArchaeology
Grey plastic lego inflatable dinghy leaning diagonally on concrete edging stone of pavement. Prow of boat is partially covered by weeds, green and lush with new growth. Backdropped by wooden fence, slats covered in moss and lichen.
April 18, 2025 at 7:56 AM
gavinmacgregor.bsky.social
We have all had days like this ... !
Tarmac surface with chalk drawing. To left a large pink heart, to right three stick figures. One to rear with blue tears at eyes, two smaller ones at front with pink cheeks, mouths open, green jets spewing forward. At there feet subcirular green pools.
April 12, 2025 at 2:38 PM
gavinmacgregor.bsky.social
Roadside loss,

like a Boyle Family detail,

play with
broken figures of consumption

@legolostatsea.bsky.social

#Archaeology
#ContemporaryArchaeology
Close cropped colour photo of roadside kerb from above. Gap between granite sets and vertical face to tarmac surface below. Purple torso and shattered purple legs of lost and broken legs figure lie against edge of kerb
March 29, 2025 at 9:52 AM
gavinmacgregor.bsky.social
Interpretation on Loch Leven circular walk places Orwell standing stones in landscape context, with associated story of eels from Sargasso Sea which once migrated to the Loch before mill sluices blocked them.

#StandingStoneSunday #Archaeology 🏺 #Scotland
Stainless steel surface with images and words engraved. Image of two standing stones set in landscape of fields and hedges. Text between stones reads Orwell standing stones were part of a stone circle. Coffins containing charred bones have been found there. Encircling scene the image of an eel.
March 23, 2025 at 10:11 AM
gavinmacgregor.bsky.social
.

Stand together,
Stand steady,
in dark times,
we find

Moments of light

Stones of Steness
Photo from c 2019
#StandingStoneSunday
Four standing stones heavily silhouetted against grey sky. Circular lens flairs cluster around the third stone, brighter more diffuse patches of light.
March 9, 2025 at 8:19 AM
gavinmacgregor.bsky.social
Great to see some fantastic new Scottish #Archaeology related books just published by @oxbowbooks.bsky.social

@archscot.bsky.social #ArchScot 🏺
Two books covers, to left title is High Pasture Cave Ritual, Memory and Identity in the Iron Age of Skye by Steven Birch and Jo McKenzie. Cover shows distant mountains of Skye overlaid by pen and ink drawing of Iron Age life. To the right, title is Cultural Landscapes of North-east Scotland Collaborative research in History and Archaeology edited by Colin Shepherd. Cover shows four people in excavation trench, one smiling, others digging and drawing a section. Set woodland, adjacent felled trees, and fringed with green ferns.
March 4, 2025 at 2:14 PM
gavinmacgregor.bsky.social
Mayburgh Henge

A solitary survivor of what is thought to have been four standing stones in the interior of this remarkable monument. It's massive enclosing bank was probably largely taken from the near by river ‐ 'Neolithic' terraforming of the wider landscape.

#StandingStoneSunday #Archaeology 🏺
Large trapezoidal shaped standing stone with small cairn like scatter at its base. Stands in flat interior of larger monument, surface of flat winter scorched grass extends beyond to large circular bank. Upon bank grow large leafless trees, silhouetted against cloudy sky.
February 23, 2025 at 9:45 AM
gavinmacgregor.bsky.social
And remember those little cousins,

For centuries sentinels of field boundaries, roadside and woodland edge.

They still recall rhythms and routes in the landscape

#StandingStoneSunday #Archaeology #Landscape🏺
Sandstone pillar with flat sides and curved top. On one side iron plate with hinge is visible. Set on edge of field with rough flattened winter grass. Silhouetted trees line beyond, faint glow of distant sun sandwiched by dark clouds.
February 16, 2025 at 8:33 AM
gavinmacgregor.bsky.social
Castlerigg Stone Circle

#StandingStoneSunday #archaeology 🏺
Single grey standing stone in foreground. Dark distant cloud leaden sky, heather covered hillside bronzed with flashes of gold.
February 9, 2025 at 9:45 AM
gavinmacgregor.bsky.social

Lunar alignments
Distant full moon in cloud covered sky, above dark silhouetted trees. Foreground is garden of paths lines lined with topiary hedges. Distinctive rocket like stone sundial (dating from the 17th century) sits towards edge of designed garden.
January 15, 2025 at 8:38 PM
gavinmacgregor.bsky.social

skyline with
graceful
distribution
Dark leaden cloud covered sky, patches of light towards horizon. Trees silhouetted on low distant skyline. Multiple cables swag diagonally across scene extending to pylon.
December 27, 2024 at 5:12 PM
gavinmacgregor.bsky.social


rest care

hold glow

Good wishes to you all,

keep bringing light & joy in such dark times.
Group of four photographs arranged with wide white border between. Top left setting sun silhouetted dry winter plants. Bottom Left distant copse of trees low sun shines through them rough winter snow scattered track in foreground. Top right suns show through railings of 'pipe bridge' snow on either side of stairs which run up to it. Bottom left, diffuse full moon glowing through trees
December 24, 2024 at 5:29 PM
gavinmacgregor.bsky.social

sky
holdfast
stone
earth
anchor

#StandingStoneSunday
#Kilmartin #Scotland #Archaeology 🏺
Standing stone situated in green grass field. Top of stone darkened and beginning to blur with dark cloudy sky Grey green lichen mottled stone surface also has multiple cup marks.
December 22, 2024 at 8:34 AM
gavinmacgregor.bsky.social
As this year
pivots
&
turns

Look forward
with
increasing light

energies renewed.

#Solstice #WinterSolstice
Snow covered landscape. Foreground fence line dark in shadow. Skeletal shrubs and trees silhouetted to left of image. To right poles of power line and row of pylons run to distant horizon. Low lying mist makes midground hazy but diffused with light from setting sun. Tiger stripe clouds, glow hot orange.
December 21, 2024 at 4:12 PM
gavinmacgregor.bsky.social
Saving this #archaeology inspired Portuguese red for the right moment
Bottle of red wine. Black image on white background of label shows group of standing stones.
December 20, 2024 at 5:02 PM
gavinmacgregor.bsky.social
Great to present on #Art & #Archaeology to Lanark and District Archaeological Society this evening.

Some wonderful discussion on how important such creative approaches are at this time.

#ArtArchaeology #ArchScot

@archaeologyscotland.bsky.social
Glass snow globe within which are four white plastic architectural model figures of people and bronze car crashed into broken 19th century ceramic milk feeder. From work called We Are Living In Disfunctional Globes Vertical rows of found Baltic objects in four main groups. From left sea glass, white a top of row running down through shades of green. Next group of fossils with bird skull on top. Rows of yellow amber, beach found amber and quarried amber. From work called Among the Dead Dunes Some Trees Glow Like The Sun made on Curonian Spit, Lithuania.
December 9, 2024 at 10:06 PM
gavinmacgregor.bsky.social
f
a
l
l
Grey

Concrete

Colourful

Demolition

Foundation
Partially demolished nine storey concrete building. Dark sky behind. Inner walls revealed, painted bright orange, purple, light blue. Leafless trees in foreground.
December 8, 2024 at 5:28 PM
gavinmacgregor.bsky.social

Chill days
of darkness

With winter sun

Focus

Find

New horizons
Sun low in sky, just above horizon fringed with leafless trees, cast in skeletal shadow. Foreground winter grasses glistening silvery grey. Sky flashes hot oranges through clouds, some of which appear as concentric ripling bands.
December 4, 2024 at 5:53 PM
gavinmacgregor.bsky.social

Dark Enchanted Isle ‐ an old blog post about a stormy visit to the Dwarfie Stane for #TombTuesday

#Hoy #Orkney #Scotland #Archaeology #ArchScot #prehistory

heritagelandscapecreativity.wordpress.com/2020/01/09/d...
Large stone slab like rock in centre, with dark recess in front. Sits among brown Heather, cliff line beyond below dark cloud with patch of bluesky View from within Dwarfie Stane looking out through squarish rock cut aperture. Beyond which grey stone block partially obscures view out. Heather covered brown hills beyond and stormy sky, with flash of bluesky
December 3, 2024 at 6:46 AM
gavinmacgregor.bsky.social
Carved over a thousand years ago, one scene of bird like figures (decapitated head between) on the Papil Stone, Shetland, always gets me thinking about beliefs & customs maintained in the past.

Mask wearing figures or human-heron hybrids?

There is a powerful story here.

#Archaeology #Scotland
Portion of stone slab with incised carving of two figures standing partially side on facing each other. Spindly legs with nobbly knees and claw like feet. Bodies are clothed in a smock like garment with possible hood. Faces have long heron like beaks. Each has an hafted axe like tool over one shoulder. Between the points of the two beaks is what looks like a decapitated head.
November 28, 2024 at 9:58 PM
gavinmacgregor.bsky.social
Newgrange

And before you enter the passage, you encounter the most remarkable displays of prehistoric creativity.

#TombTuesday #Archaeology #prehistory #RockArt
Grey stone retaining wall of entrance to Newgrange, dark passage into it obscured by large prone kerb stone at front. Highly decorated with spirals, curvilinear lines and lozenges.
November 26, 2024 at 5:18 PM
gavinmacgregor.bsky.social
Newgrange

at the heart of the Brú na Bóinne World Heritage Site is a truly mega-megalithic monument

#TombTuesday #Archaeology #prehistory
Blue sky in background with white and grey cloud rolling in. Large green grass covered mound with white quartz revetment holding vertical sides, larger stones at base. Three times higher than the group of people standing in front of entrance passage. Three large standing stones are close to monument once formed part of a circle.
November 26, 2024 at 8:02 AM