Close to the Sculptured Cross at A’Chill, a sandstone slab lies flat against the earth, marked by two rounded depressions. Known as the Punishment Stone, it’s thought to have been used in a form of community justice—where wrongdoers might have had their thumbs or fingers bound into the hollows as part of a public penalty. No written evidence survives to confirm this, but the story has been passed down on Canna for generations.

Its location next to a former chapel and early Christian site gives the tradition added weight. A’Chill was once the focus of religious life on the island, with traces of a monastic settlement still visible. Whether the stone served a religious or secular function is unclear, but it sits firmly within a wider network of carved crosses, chapel ruins, and burial grounds that speak to a close-knit, self-governed community.

The stone itself is modest in scale. It can be easy to miss, blending with the field around it. Its two indentations are the only clue that it once served a specific purpose. Stones like this appear elsewhere in the Highlands and Islands, though few have retained such a consistent association with local justice.

Today it remains where it has always been—exposed to the weather and left undisturbed. It’s part of a wider group of features at A’Chill that invite quiet reflection rather than interpretation. For those interested in early island life, it offers a rare trace of how order was once maintained without courts, clerks, or paperwork.