Rock art in Magheranaul

Described by Van Hoek as 'The illustration in DAS [Donegal Archaeological Survey] gives the impression that this smooth rock sheet features no cupmarks. There are, however, five large and deep cupmarks. Three of these have one complete and rather deeply carved ring, and a long, straight tail from the cup. Another such cup has a short, curving tail and faint traces of a ring. There are two smaller cups, one on its own and the other enclosed by a deeply carved angular ring with a short curved tail budding from it. Near the S edge of the rock is a very shallow pocked depression, possibly the beginning of another of thise large deep cups. Another interesting feature is seen on the middle of the rock (which slopes 4 degrees to the S). It is a roughly rectangular box, connected by rough pocking to the angular cup and ring. It is an empty box but could well have been intended to bear parallel grooves similar to others nearby. On the rock are a few straight, long but faint grooves of undiagnosed character (not shown on plan). The could be old plough scratches or natural features such as glacial striae. Some of the latter may have been worked on by perhistoric man, incorporating them into the design as long tails (DAS no. 656, fig. 39A; Weir 1980, 130) (fig. 7D)' (Van Hoek 1987, 34). Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload/revision: : 30 May 2010