Rock art in Kealduff Upper

In rocky mountain heath (198m OD), on a NE-facing slope, located within a settlement of hut sites, enclosures and field walls. Excellent views of Behy river valley to NE with Seefin and Droum Mountains in background. A smooth and fractured sandstone boulder (dims. 1.6m NW-SE; 1.23m NE-SW; H 0.38m at NW) which is sub-oval in plan. It has a roughly oval decorated surface (dims. 1.3m NW-SE; 0.95m NE-SW) with a very gentle NE-facing aspect bearing a number of motifs. The decorative elements consist of ten cupmarks ranging in size from small (diam. 3cm; D 6mm) to large (diam. 5.5cm; D 9mm) across the western half of the boulder. A conjoined pair of picked rings form a figure-of-eight motif (total dims. 18cm NW-SE; 10cm NE-SW; ring Wth 8mm; D 2-3mm) toward the centre of the decorated surface. A large concentration of pickmarks (dims. 18cm N-S; 20cm E-W) arranged around a single cupmark (diam. 2.5cm; D 4mm) are off-centre to S. Other random areas of picking are in vicinity of the motifs. Approximately sixteen pockmarks (average diam. 1cm; D 2-4mm) across ESE area of surface, may also be rock art. Compiled by: Alison McQueen and Vera Rahilly Date of upload: 24 January 2018

Likely dating to the Neolithic or Bronze Age, this rock art is associated with a wider prehistoric settlement landscape. Its meaning is unclear, but such art often had ritual or territorial significance, possibly linked to landscape features or seasonal movements.