Rock art in Letter West

In mountain heath (170m OD), on a NE-facing slope, to NW of stream. Good views overlooking Behy River valley to NE and overlooked by mountains SE->W->NW. A smooth and fractured sandstone (dims. 2.10m NE-SW; 0.94m NW-SE; max. H 0.76m at N) which is subrectangular in plan. It has an irregular decorated surface (dims. 0.90m NE-SW; 0.90m NW-SE) with a sharp SE-facing aspect. The rock art design upon this stone is highly decorative, albeit very faint and weathered. The pattern consists of a long, central curvilinear groove (L 1.05m; Wth 1.5-2.5cm; D 4mm) with four shorter off-shoot curvilinear grooves to N side. The main groove terminates in the largest cupmark (dims. 7cm x 8cm; D 4mm) and two off-shoot grooves finish in smaller cupmarks; two others finish in a cup-and-one-ring motif. The southern-most of the cup-and-ring motifs (diam. 10cm; cupmark diam. 5cm; D 6mm; ring Wth 1.5cm; D 3mm) is best preserved. A single cup-and-one ring motif and a tiny cupmark are adjacent to S of the central curvilinear groove. A further two cupmarks with radial grooves are also adjacent to S. Rock art (KE071-184----) is c. 2.5m to S. Compiled by: Alison McQueen and Vera Rahilly Date of upload: 26 January 2018

Likely dating to the Neolithic or Bronze Age, this rock art may have served a ritual or territorial function, possibly linked to landscape orientation or seasonal markers. No specific folklore is recorded, but its position suggests it was visible to travelers or had symbolic significance in the surrounding terrain.