Rock art in Derrynablaha

This low, earthfast boulder measures 2.07m x 1.3m in maximum dimensions and its decorated upper surface slopes upwards to NE. The uppermost section of this surface is set back slightly and bears two cup-and-rings and about twenty simple cupmarks, some of which may be solution pits. The remainder of the decorated surface-features about forty simple cupmarks, two of which are enclosed by a penannular, oval-shaped ring, fourteen cup-and-rings, a cup-and-two rings and a cup-and-four rings (Anati 1963, 4, No.4; Finlay 1973, 76). See attached drawing of rock art taken from O'Sullivan and Sheehan 1996, Fig. 55 The above description is derived from A. O'Sullivan and J. Sheehan (compilers), 'The Iveragh peninsula: an archaeological survey of South Kerry'. Cork University Press (1996), no. 304. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. In rough pasture on the E slopes of Mullaghanattin. This low, earthfast boulder, deturfed when recorded by Anati in the early 1960s, measures up to 2m NW/SE x 1.4m NE/SW. The upper surface is composed of three main sections, the roughly rectangular shaped mid-section flanked by a smaller roughly rectangular section to NW and a triangular shaped lower section to SE. The dominant motifs on the central section are a cup-and-two rings at N and a cup-and-four rings (max. diam 0.34m) at S. Other motifs on this section include 8 clearly defined cup-and-rings and some 29 cupmarks. The section to N is inscribed with a cup-and-ring and a line of picking at its S end with some 20 cupmarks distributed over the surface, the larger and deepest of which are at its N end. A series of 5 hollows running NNE/SSW run between the top section and the mid-section. A crack running from just above the central cupmark of the cup-and-four ring motif continues ENE to the next section. The surface of the section at E has a number of NW/SE running natural cracks on its upper section and is inscribed with three cup-and-ring motifs, one at NW above the crack and the other two cup-and-rings and a cupmark below the crack. Compiled by: Aoibheann Lambe Date of upload: 24 September 2018

Likely dating to the Neolithic or Bronze Age, this rock art may have held ritual or symbolic significance, possibly linked to territorial markers or ceremonial practices. Cup-and-ring motifs are commonly associated with prehistoric ritual landscapes in Atlantic Europe.