The Airlie Cup was made in the 2nd Century entirely of glass. Fragments of other Iron Age vessels have been found in Britain but this is the only complete one. Other samples have appeared in Scandinavia and Afghanistan, which indicates the early trade routes and, probably the English Channel and North Sea were narrower.
The Cup is 3 inches in diameter and just over 2 inches deep with a fire-rounded rim, straight sides and double, raised glass rings at the base. It was found in 1865 when a workman, digging a drain for the new Airlie Primary School came across a stone cist, 2 feet down. Fortunately Mr Taylor, the Dominie (Headmaster) was aware that two other cists had already been found in the new school grounds and was there to direct the digging with utmost care. The glass was extremely thin and light and slightly iridescent from decay. A tiny piece of bone was also in the same cist and is associated with Iron Age burial.

The actual Airlie Cup is now in the Scottish museum for Antiquities in Edinburgh.