Rock art, Drummin, Co. Wicklow

Co. Wicklow |

Settlement Sites

Rock art, Drummin, Co. Wicklow

A large granite boulder on a south-facing slope above the Ceocha Brook in County Wicklow carries something that easy walkers and casual visitors almost never notice: around eighteen cup marks, shallow circular depressions pecked into the stone's relatively flat upper surface, scattered across the rock in varying sizes.

Cup marks are among the oldest and most enigmatic forms of prehistoric rock art found in Ireland, typically dated to the Neolithic or Bronze Age, and their purpose remains genuinely unresolved. Whether they mark territory, record astronomical observations, or served some ritual function that has left no other trace is simply not known.

The boulder itself is earthfast, meaning it is set into the ground rather than placed on it, and measures roughly two metres east to west and 1.6 metres north to south, rising to about 0.8 metres above the slope. On its eastern side there is a D-shaped hollow, a distinct and slightly unusual feature measuring roughly 19 centimetres by 10 centimetres and only about three centimetres deep. Whether this was deliberately carved alongside the cup marks, or represents a different hand or period altogether, is not recorded. The site sits on a moderately steep gradient overlooking the Ceocha Brook, and the combination of running water below and open sky above is one that recurs repeatedly at prehistoric rock art sites across Ireland, suggesting the landscape setting was as deliberate as the carving itself. A photogrammetric 3D model of the boulder was produced by the Wicklow Rock Art Project, based at the School of Archaeology, University College Dublin, under the direction of Dr. Clíodhna Ní Lionáin, offering a way to examine the surface detail that the uneven terrain and angle of natural light can make difficult on the ground.

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