What is recorded here

Kealduff Upper holds a small fractured boulder where someone cut a depressed egg, two parallel grooves, an oval ring and a curving line into smooth stone. The marker sits inside old hut sites, enclosures and field walls on a NE-facing mountain slope, facing the Behy river valley and the distant Seefin and Droum Mountains. Freeze-thaw has widened parts of the design, and rust, pickmarks and natural pockmarks share the surface, but the chosen shape still emerges from the hill.

In rocky mountain heath (196m 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 earthfast boulder (dims. 0.8m NW-SE; 0.75m NE-SW; H 0.3m at NW) which is irregular in plan. It has a subrectangular decorated surface (dims. 0.4m NW-SE; 0.37m NE-SW) with an SW-facing aspect. The motifs consist of a large, depressed egg-shaped motif (dims. 14cm NNE-SSW; 13cm ESE-WNW; D 3mm). Two parallel grooves (max. L 5cm; Wth 1cm; D 2-3mm) (long-axis NE-SW), located 2cm apart, are adjacent to SSE. A small, oval ringmark (total dims. 7cm ENE-WSW; 5cm NNW-SSE) defined by a ring (Wth 1cm; D 2-3mm) is toward the NE area of the decorated surface; A curvilinear groove (C 11cm; D 2-3mm) is adjacent to SW. A large area affected by freeze-thaw is situated in the centre of the decorated surface; A rusty orange-brown, square feature (dims. 5 x 6mm; D 2mm) is located adjacent to E. A number of man-made pickmarks and natural pockmarks are evident upon the decorated surface. 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 landscape rich in settlement features, suggesting a ritual or territorial function. The positioning may reflect symbolic connections to the surrounding mountains and river valley, possibly linked to ancient beliefs or navigation routes.

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