What is recorded here

Aoibheann Lambe identified a loose tent-shaped sandstone boulder in Derreen whose hidden face emerged only after the stone broke free from a wall. The pale pink surface displays conjoined cup-and-ring marks, radial grooves, and a truncated hollow, preserving lines that continue around the boulder’s edges. The markings may record distant human life, yet the stone itself waits patiently for recognition after centuries buried inside the wall.

Panel of rock art identified and described by Aoibheann Lambe as; ‘A loose roughly tent-shaped sandstone boulder (its uppermost ridge 0.65m long) whose heavily inscribed face only recently become exposed when the boulder became dislodged from a wall. The boulder is currently placed upon a pile of stone rubble. Its most decorated face is S facing in its present position. The decorated surface has not been exposed to the elements in living memory and is devoid of lichen. It is a pale pink colour punctuated in parts by fine pink lines and has a thin coating of quartz. The rock art which is readily visible consists of two large cup-and-ring motifs each of which is conjoined by radial grooves with a smaller cup-and-ring mark; an isolated cupmark; two further cup-and-ring marks, a groove; and a large hollow which appears to be truncated where the boulder may have been broken in the distant past. Lines of picking continue beyond the boulder’s S face to the boulder’s N facing side and possibly also to its side at W’. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details provided by Aoibheann Lambe

Likely dating to the Bronze Age, this rock art panel may have held ritual or symbolic significance, possibly linked to territorial markers or spiritual beliefs. The recent exposure of the inscribed face suggests long-term geological or environmental changes have influenced its visibility.

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