Rock art, Keeas, Co. Kerry

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Rock art, Keeas, Co. Kerry

In the Bridia valley in south Kerry, a large boulder carrying one of the more elaborate concentrations of prehistoric rock art in the region either still waits in the woodland or has, at some point, been quietly swallowed by it.

That ambiguity is itself part of the story. When field researchers went to verify the site, they found rough pasture, moss-covered stones, and no sign of the boulder described in earlier records. Whether it has shifted, subsided, or simply become too overgrown to identify, the carved surface, if it survives, remains unconfirmed on the ground.

The boulder, as described in Aidan O'Sullivan and John Sheehan's 1996 archaeological survey of the Iveragh Peninsula, was a substantial block measuring roughly 2.1 metres by 1.9 metres and standing 1.3 metres high, located on the western bank of a stream feeding the Caragh river. Its upper surface, sloping towards the northwest and crossed by several deep natural fissures, carried a dense arrangement of carved motifs. Rock art of this type, sometimes called cup-and-ring art, consists of circular depressions, known as cupmarks, sometimes surrounded by one or more carved rings. The markings here were unusually varied: at least nineteen simple cupmarks, eleven cup-and-ring combinations, ten cups enclosed by two rings, and two enclosed by four rings. The rings include both complete circles and penannular forms, meaning they are broken at one point rather than fully closed. Four more complex motifs added radial grooves radiating outward from a central cup, each enclosed by keyhole-shaped grooves, one of which was fully enclosed rather than left open. Straight and curved grooves scattered among the carvings add further complexity. This type of abstract art is generally attributed to the Bronze Age or late Neolithic period, though its precise meaning remains unknown.

Anyone hoping to find the boulder should be aware that, as of a 2017 field visit, it had not been relocated. The general area is the Bridia valley, west of Killorglin on the Iveragh Peninsula, near the stream that drains into the Caragh river, but the exact position within what has become rough pasture rather than clearly defined woodland is uncertain. The moss-covered stones observed nearby may or may not be related.

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