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Mayo - 7
Boheh

Site/Artefact Boheh Type Rock Art Site Number SMR Mayo 097 00601 National Grid Reference 097500 East 278670 North Map ( 1:50000) Ordnance Survey Ireland, Discovery Series 38 List of Sites and Artefacts Click Here Interactive Map Click Here

Rock Art at Boheh (Photo: Christiaan Corlett)   Rock Art at Boheh (Photo: Ballintubber Abbey Trust)

Description
The carving of symbols on some exposed rock surfaces may have been a way to impart special significance to a particular landscape. The distribution of rock art may or may not reflect settlement patterns but they were not located haphazardly (Bradley, 1995). Rock art is found in several locations in Ireland and is thought to be part of a wider western Atlantic style (Waddell, 1998). Dating is suggested at between 3000 and 2000 BC (Bradley, 1995). A striking feature of the Boheh stone is that decoration is to be found on all surfaces at different levels (van Hoek, 1993). These mainly take the form of cup and ring motifs". Other designs include keyhole and cross motifs (Morahan, 2001).

The purpose of this site has stimulated lively debate, with opinions varying from being the signposts for early prospectors seeking to exploit the precious minerals, like gold, to it being a solar alignment dividing the year into three parts for the purpose of agricultural cultivation (Bracken, Wayman, 1992). The idea of location as the prime catalyst for the carvings at Boheh is examined against another theory that it is the entire artistic composition that is important to decipher and understand in order to gain a better insight into the lives of the people who carved them (van Hoek, !993). There can be no doubt that this is landscape architecture of a high order that links the monument and the people who carved them to the landscape in a way that occurs almost in no other medium (Bradley, 1995).

Excavation Details
Not Available

Access/Ownership
Via the Tóchar Phádraig

References

• Bracken,G.G.& Wayman, P.A. 1992, A Neolithic or Bronze-age Alignment for Croagh Patrick, Cathair Na Mart, Vol 12, Westport, p.1-11
• Bradley, R. 1995, After MacWhite: Irish Rock Art in its International Context, in Ireland in the Bronze Age, Proceedings of the Dublin Conference April 1995, (eds) Waddell, J, Shee Twohig, E, Stationery Office, Dublin, pp 91, 95, 96
• Morahan, L. 2001 Croagh Patrick, Co. Mayo archaeology, landscape and people, Croagh Patrick Archaeological Committee, Mayo, pp 28-29
• Van Hoek, M. 1995, The Keyhole-Pattern in the Prehistoric Rock Art of Ireland and Britain, Co. Mayo, Cathair Na Mart, Vol 13, Westport, p.15, 24
• Van Hoek, M. 1993, The Prehistoric Rock Art of the Boheh Stone, Co. Mayo, Cathair Na Mart, Vol 13, Westport, p.1-15
• Waddell, J. 1998, The Prehistoric Archaeology of Ireland, Galway, pp 167-168
• RCAHMS, 1999, Kilmartin, Prehistoric & Early Historic Monuments, An inventory of the monuments extracted from Argyll, Vol. 6, Scotland, p.8 

Check out the following sections of the website for related information:

• Kilmartin and its Rock Art

Mayo Sites and Artefacts

1. Mayo Abbey 2. Balla 3. Ballintubber Abbey 4. Tóchar Phadraig 5. Aghagower 6. Lankhill 7. Boheh 8. Croagh Patrick Summit 9. Carrownalurgan 10. Ardoley 11. Kiladangan 12. Glaspatrick 13. Shrawee 14. Clare Island - Strake 15. Clare Island - Lecarrow 16. Caher Island 17. Durless

18. Carrowmore 19. Knappaghmanagh 20. Cushalogurt 21. Carrowkeel Ecclesiastical Remains 22. Thornhill 23. Carrowkeel Murrisk 24. Carrowkeel Cahernaran 25. Carrowmacloughlin Cairn-1 26. Carrowmacloughlin Cairn-2 27. Carrowmacloughlin Cairn-3 28. Carrowmacloughlin/ Glencally/ Teevenacroaghy 29. Carrowmacloughlin Sweathouses 30. Glaspatrick Holy Well

31. Glaspatrick Rath-1 32. Glaspatrick Early Ecclesiastical Remains 33. Glaspatrick Ringfort 34. Glaspatrick Rath-2 35. Glaspatrick Ecclesiatical Remains 36. Glaspatrick Altar 38. Glaspatrick Graveyard 39. Murrisk Demesne Standing Stone-1 40. Murrisk Demesne Standing Stone-2 41. Murrisk Demesne Standing Stone-3 42. Teevenacroaghy

Mayo - Vestvågøy - Mid-Argyll

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