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Rock art in Coomshanna

Rock art

What is recorded here

Rock art in Coomshanna marks a busy upland corner where at least ten hut shadows still crowd the pasture beside the decorated stone. The faint cups, rings and picked lines suggest people returned often enough to trust the boulder as a shared landmark. They may have gathered there to trade news, tend stock or simply sit with the odd pleasure of making a mark that rain would never fully erase.
In rocky upland pasture, the smooth but weathered upper surface of a low-lying sub-triangular earthfast boulder (having an area of approximately 3m sq) is inscribed with faintly visible rock art motifs which include two variants on the cup-and-ring motif, an oval shaped depression as well as picked lines. Low drystone walls and a cluster of ten+ closely-set hut sites in various stages of collapse and having a variety of morphologies are found in the vicinity of the decorated panel. Compiled by: Aoibheann Lambe Date of upload/revision: 13 May 2019
Likely dating to the Neolithic or Bronze Age, the rock art may represent symbolic or ritual markings associated with early pastoral or spiritual practices in the upland landscape. The motifs could have had local significance, possibly linked to territorial markers, fertility symbols, or ancestral beliefs.

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.

What survives
Recorded monument

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