What is recorded here

Twenty-eight centuries of rain have not erased the radial grooves cutting across the Coomasaharn hogback. Bronze Age hands carved forty-seven cupmarks and ringed symbols into the south-facing sandstone, forcing lines over a metre long down the slope toward Lough Naparka and the Behy valley. The rock sits eighteen metres above the valley floor, overlooking watercourses and mountain passes that may have marked territory or movement. What the carver knew about this landscape still leaks through stone.

This hogback-shaped rock measures 3.9m long. The decoration is confined to its S face, and consists of simple cupmarks and cupmarks enclosed in both annular and penannular rings. Radial grooves extend from many of the cupmarks, and in some instances from the rings, to run down the slope of the rock. Some of these reach over a metre in length and a number terminate in cupmarks (O’Kelly 1958a, 2-3, No.2; Finlay 1973, 44). See attached drawing of rock art taken from O'Sullivan and Sheehan 1996, Fig. 50 (a) 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. 274. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 28 July 2013 In upland mountain heath, on an elevated siting of a N-facing slope (196m OD), overlooking Lough Naparka to NW, Mountain Stage to N, River Behy valley to NE and span of mountains (Seefin, Beenreagh, Macklaun) to E. Kealduff Cliff overlooks the rock art site to SW. A slightly rough and unfractured hogbacked sandstone rock outcrop (dims. 1.80m N-S; 3.90m E-W; max. H 0.55m), which has a long, clean, convex surface (dims. 1.15m N-S x 2.50m E-W) which is decorated on top and continuing onto the SE-facing aspect. The motifs are well defined and comprise of approximately forty-seven cupmarks of varying sizes (diam. 3-8cm; D 4-6mm) of which twenty-five are simple individual marks, seventeen having a radial groove extending from them and five that are abutting linear grooves. There are twelve cup-and-one ring motifs (diam. 11-18cm) of varying sizes of which five are complete. These consist of a cupmark (diam. 6-8cm; D 5mm) and ring (Wth 1.0cm; D 4-6mm) of which four have a radial groove (L 0.40-0.75m) extending from the ring and one with a radial groove (L 0.40m) extending from the cupmark. The remaining seven are incomplete of which five are penannular cup-and-one ring motifs. Three of the pennanular cup-and-one ring motifs have a radial groove (L 0.20-1.05m) extending from the cupmark. One of the penannular cup-and-ring motifs (diam. 11cm) has a cupmark (diam. 3cm) and a ring groove which extends downwards to E. There is a double cup-and-one ring motif (dims. 20cm N-S; 15cm E-W) upon the highest part of the stone at S. This consists of two cupmarks (diam. 7cm; D 4-6mm) and a ring (Wth 1.8cm; D 10mm); The northern cupmark has the longest radial groove (L 1.05m; Wth 2cm; D 5mm) extending from it, to E. This is likely to be a specially selected location for such an elaborate example of rock art which potentially maps the area, settlements and watercourses during the Bronze Age. Compiled by: Alison McQueen and Vera Rahilly Date of upload: 2 March 2017

This rock art, featuring cupmarks and rings, is likely from the Neolithic or Bronze Age period. Such symbols are commonly associated with ritual or ceremonial practices, possibly linked to water sources or territorial markers in prehistoric landscapes.

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