Casgliadau Arlein

This stone was retrieved during backfilling of soil which cam mainly from Prehistoric horizons H8 and H39. It is a pebble of slightly micaceous silty sandstone with a mostly subrectangular cross-section and breaks at both ends which have clearly occured after decoration. It is 80mm long. All four main surfaces are decorated with a 'tree' motif made up of a central line parallel to the main axis of the pebble from whcih shorter lines branch on either side. Two opposing faces, B and D, have two motifs running in opposite directions as do the single motifs on the other pair of opposing faces, A and C. None of the six survive complete. If the motifs are viewed as though their bases are in the central area of the pebble, then in five of the six (the exception is that on A) the lowest branch lies to the left of the centre line. The fragmentary nature of the motif on A makes its detailed design uncertain; the lowest branch is probably on the right, but, given the complexities of pattern on the other examples, it is possible that the right hand of the two lines parallel to the pebble axis is in fact the central stem in which case it would conform to the others. On face B the second branch of both motifs is on the right, and the third and fourth branches leave the main stem at the same point. On D the second branch is on the left in both motifs. These similarities, at least in the initial stages of the paired motifs, suggest that the branches in the patterns were not laid out entirely at random.