The most common motifs are cup marks and rings but other designs also occur. They were made by chipping away at the rock with a stone or metal point, requiring considerable effort. Similar motifs found on the stones of some Bronze Age megalithic monuments complicate the dating issue. Were the stones decorated after the monuments were built or were decorated stones re-used as monument components?
Irish rock art is most highly concentrated in Co. Kerry but also found in Cork, Mayo, Donegal, Louth and Monaghan.
Dates for these carvings are both uncertain and debated but Neolithic to Early Bronze Age would be the generally accepted ballpark.
Various theories concerning origins, meaning and siting criteria have been proposed.
It now appears, from this admittedly small sample, that rock art was astronomically sited in accordance with standard calendrical principles.
Just like all the other pre-iron age ritual monuments examined to date.
