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Cup-marked stone is a prehistoric rock art monument located in the Ards peninsula, County Down, Northern Ireland. The stone sits on bedrock of the Gala Group formation, which dates to the Telychian period and comprises wacke—a fine-grained sedimentary rock. The monument is protected by the Historic Environment Division under reference 6831.
Cup-marked stones are among the earliest forms of rock art in Britain and Ireland, typically dating to the Neolithic or Early Bronze Age. They are created by pecking or grinding shallow, roughly circular depressions into rock surfaces, often arranged in clusters or patterns. The purpose of such markings remains debated by archaeologists, though they may have held ritual, territorial or ceremonial significance for prehistoric communities.
The Ards peninsula's landscape of drumlin hills and coastal terrain has yielded several examples of prehistoric activity. This particular stone contributes to the archaeological record of human settlement and cultural expression in the region during the early prehistoric period. The cup-marked stone remains in situ, preserving evidence of the artistic and spiritual practices of Neolithic or Bronze Age communities in north-east Ulster.
Cup-marked stone is a scheduled monument protected by Department for Communities NI under reference 6831. View the official record →
Cup-marked stone is a prehistoric rock art monument located in the Ards peninsula, County Down, Northern Ireland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) under reference 6831.
Cup-marked stone dates from the prehistoric period, and is classified as a cup-marked stone. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Cup-marked stone is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by DfC Northern Ireland (NISMR) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Ni. The official designation reference is 6831.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Windmill stump (c.f. ihr 2926 for details) (1.2 km), Oyster midden (1.9 km), Raised rath (2.6 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Cup-marked stone's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Cup-marked stone stands on Gala Group, bedrock that formed in the Telychian. The rock here is wacke.