Flat cemetery in Emper

Situated on flat pasture land with ringfort (WM010-008----) marked on OS maps as ‘Rathduff’ containing a Man-made underground passage (WM010-008001-) decorated with a panel of rock art (WM010-008002-) immediately to NW. No surface remains visible of prehistoric flat cemetery (Waddell 1970, 134). In 1938 the site was described as following; ‘in a piece of tillage ground just beside the fort (WM010-008----) over a dozen stone lined cists have been dug up from time to time, but nothing was found except a few bones and traces of ashes. The cists were about two feet (0.6m) below the surface of the field, and I am told that other stone slabs are located deeper down and that they remain undisturbed’ (Weir 1938, 146-7). No monument indicated in this area on the 1914 ed. OS 6-inch map. Compiled by: Frank Coyne and Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 1 November 2016

Portal dolmen; likely dates to the Neolithic or early Bronze Age. Its association with a ringfort and decorated rock art suggests ritual or ceremonial significance in a prehistoric landscape.