Pluais Na Scríob An Analysis Of The Glanrastel Inscriptions

pluais na scríob: an analysis of the glanrastel inscriptions anneli o’neill the irish name, pluais na scríob, ‘the cave of the writin

Pluais na Scríob:
An analysis of the Glanrastel inscriptions
Anneli O’Neill
The Irish name, Pluais na Scríob, ‘the Cave of the Writings’, relates
to an extraordinary finding, its secrets which so far remain unsolved.
Attached to this article is the complete graphic presentation of the
petroglyphs to which it refers. In the following article, details of
the engravings will be analyzed on the basis of the drawing.
The natural rock formation consists of a freestanding boulder and a
large rock slab which leans in a sloping fashion against it, on the
northern side of the boulder. The slab rests on the boulder’s upper
longitudinal edge. Thus the slab forms a shelter open to the
north-east and south-west (Plate I). The vertical northern side of the
boulder, is therefore, for the most part, protected from weathering.
This is the face that is completely covered with engravings.

Plate I. Pluais na Scríob, looking towards the north-east.
The striking location of Pluais na Scríob, placed on the steep
southern slope of the Droppa Mountains on the Beara Peninsula, Co.
Kerry, may well be the cause of the relatively low number of visitors
to the site to date. One can access the site through Glanrastel
valley, passing a great number of archaeological remains, including
prehistoric fulachta fiadh and standing stones, and hut sites of
various ages. Coming closer to Pluais na Scríob the hillside gets
steeper. Sheer rock walls shape the rough landscape and streams of
water cut through the overgrown bog landscape. Without knowing what to
look for, it would be easily to pass by the site. The location of the
site, at c. 310-320m above sea level, poses questions. Why were the
engravings of Pluais na Scríob made at such a remote site? Has it
always been this remote? Could some of the nearby archaeological
remains be contemporary with the engravings? Is it because of its
remoteness that the engravings have survived to the present day?
Several scientists have already discussed the engravings on Pluais na
Scríob. F Finlay includes the Glanrastel finding in a group of
engravings characterized by its technique, the incised type. Examples
of these engravings are relatively rarely found in Ireland, some of
them being in the context of megalithic structures. But despite
distinctive similarities the engravings of the Glanrastel valley stand
out of that group. Because of the quantity and density of the
engravings Finlay refers to them as “not normal”.1, 2
In E.S.Twohig’s investigations on this type of engravings they appear
under the term COMBS carvings, named after the surfaces on which they
occur (Caves, Outcrops, Megaliths and Boulder-Shelters). The linking
feature again is the technique of carving, respectively incising the
engravings with a sharp tool, not necessarily of metal. The main motif
is the straight line. All COMBS shapes show a geometric and abstract
structure.3
W. Grant of Edinburgh University, Scotland, approached the engravings
from a linguistic point of view. He interprets the writings at Pluais
na Scríob as ogham. More precisely, he terms it archaic ogham, ogham
inscriptions of an early stage in the development of this script. This
would make it probably older than the conventional ogham which was in
use “during the first few centuries AD.”4, 5
He also mentions an interesting comparable site, the Tollard House
Grotto in Argyll, where there are similar carvings. The engravings in
that site have been interpreted as “Ogham consaine”6 inscriptions,
used in the context of a fertility cult.7
R.L. Pyle points out remarkable similarities to petroglyphs in West
Virginia and Kentucky, also interpreted as an archaic style of ogham.8
With regard to the age of the engravings, definite evidence is
lacking. What stands out in the carvings of Pluais na Scríob when
compared with other sites is the densely engraved area here, which is
of remarkable size. The vertical northern side of the boulder shows
numerous carvings on an area measuring 5.75m x 2.25m. Only very few
sections remain undecorated. Particularly complex are the carvings of
the middle part of the rock face. The carvings then become less dense
towards the edges. In case of the north-east area this is caused by
the process of weathering since this section is not protected by the
slab.
The main motif used is the straight line, which can occur in groups of
up to 20 correlated lines. The engraved motifs are of varying depth,
length and width. Some of them are very obvious, others are extremely
thin and fine, so much so that they only became evident on
well-exposed black and white photographs.
Only a few symbols vary from the simple stroke. The upper half of the
middle part of the decorated area shows a remarkably large
sickle-shaped symbol, opening to the right. It’s one of the very few
curved symbols on Pluais na Scríob, made out of several adjoining
curved lines (Plate II).

Plate II. Pluais na Scríob: sickle-shaped symbol.
Equally impressive is an X-shaped mark, the most obvious example of
its type, on the outer section on the left (Plate III). But this
doesn’t necessarily point to a Christian origin, since simple crossing
lines can be found in various periods, with different intentions
behind them.

Plate III. Pluais na Scíob: cross (actual size of photo 0.25m x
0.25m).
At variance with the strokes on Pluais na Scríob are relatively small
round, shallow depressions. Apparently made by a different technique
than the incised lines, some still show traces of picking (Plate IV).

Plate IV. Pluais na Scríob, round depression (actual size of photo
0.25m x 0.25m).
In Plate V one can see a combination of vertical and horizontal lines
crossing each other in right angles, occasionally forming a
ladder-like symbol.

Plate V. Pluais na Scríob, ladder symbol to left (actual size of photo
0.25m x 0.25m).
The carvings are cut into the rock surface with the help of a sharp
tool, either metal or stone. There are large deposits of quartz
nearby, which may have provided suitable tools. Generally the
technique used was incising, resulting in a V-shaped profile, the
exception being the picked-out depressions.
The drawing of the site illustrates both the natural rock surface as
well as the artificially cut structures. This facilitates giving an
overall impression of the site, and in it one can see in many cases
the interplay of both layers.
At first sight the engravings seem to be randomly and irregularly
spread over the surface area. This impression is misleading! One might
find it surprising but despite the great density of the engravings,
the lines hardly ever overlap. And if they do, crossing lines are
clearly associated with each other, either by their orientation, by
their similar length or by having the same starting and end-point.
One example is a clearly V-shaped motif, where two meet at a sharp
angle, containing the same shape replicated a second time inside. The
outer “V” shape is crossed by a single line in a right angle, just
about touching the top of the inner “V”. This group of strokes
obviously belongs together (Plate VI).

Plate VI. Pluais na Scríob, V-shaped symbol (actual size of photo
0.25m x 0.25m).
Closer examination reveals that the motives, groups and patterns on
Pluais na Scríob all follow a precise scheme. Single lines as well as,
in most cases, groups of parallel lines are oriented towards a
baseline. This baseline serves as starting or endpoint, being used
respectively as centre line (Plate VII). These baselines can be
artificially carved lines, but more often they are natural cracks of
the rock.

Plate VII. Pluais na Scríob: parallel lines (actual size of photo
0.25m x 0.25m).
Several of these cracks run sloping from right to left and subdivide
the area into registers. Further shorter lines, mostly horizontal,
serve as baselines.
The cut-in strokes mostly run vertically or vary from that by their
slightly sloping position. Some single lines are apparently longer and
carved more deeply than the average, so they catch the viewer’s eye.
They disrupt the otherwise rather uniform nature of the structure and
interlink sequences, arranged one above the other. Even the “X” shape
isn’t placed at random. Its central point stands on a base line.
Several lines are directly linked to the cross by running parallel
with it, and are slightly eroded by weathering (see Plate III).
Due to the regular distribution, the accurate depiction and the
uniformity of the motives it should be emphasized here that it is
unlikely that these carvings were the result of a purely functional
use. It has been suggested, for example, that the engravings on Pluais
na Scríob were as a result of tool sharpening activity. But so-called
whetstones, which are used in the process of tool sharpening, usually
show a network of lines of a highly irregular structure.
If this is to be a simple counting system, and a sheep tally has been
suggested, the engravings are far too complex. The great lack of
comparable examples elsewhere in Ireland supports this argument.
One has to assume that what we have here is an information system of a
more complex structure. Its regularity, the limited number of
different motives and the repeating patterns make a script seem an
obvious assumption. The pattern of a baseline in combination with
crossing lines, running parallel or slightly sloping, resemble ogham
inscriptions. An excellent source for today’s study of this script is
the Book of Ballymote. Although we nowadays know this alphabet mainly
from standing stones, where the longitudinal edge serves as stemline,
examples on flat surfaces, for instance the Ogam Cave at Tollard House
mentioned above, or even examples without a reference line or edge are
well known. Hopefully these considerations will arouse archaeologists
and philologists interest to carry out further study and eventually
reveal the context and purpose of Pluais na Scríob’s inscriptions.
Note about Author
=================
Anneli O'Neill studied prehistoric archaeology in Munich, Cologne and
Cork. Her MA thesis (2009) involved an archaeological survey in the
Lauragh area of the Beara Peninsula. She has since worked as a field
archaeologist in Bavaria and currently works part-time in the Bavarian
State Archaeological Collection in Munich, and has started a PhD
thesis on an early Neolithic settlement in the north of Bavaria.
1 F.Finlay, The Rock Art of Cork and Kerry, unpublished M.A.Thesis,
UCC 1973, p. 156.
2 Ibid..
3 E.S. Twohig, “An Enduring Tradition, Incised Rock Art in Ireland”,
in: H. Roche, E. Grogan, J. Bradley, J. Coles, B. Raftery (eds), From
Megaliths to Metals, Essays in Honour of George Eogan, Oxford: 2004,
pp. 222-229.
4 W.Grant, Pluais Na Scríob, Unravelling Glenrastel’s mysterious cave
writing, in: Tuosist History and Newsletter Committee, Tuosist 6000,
Turas Staire go dTuath Ó Siosta, Lauragh 1999, 20.
5 W. Grant, “Pluais Na Scríob, Unravelling Glenrastel’s mysterious
cave writing”, in Tuosist 6000, Turas Staire go dTuath Ó Siosta,
Lauragh: Tuosist History and Newsletter Committee, 1999, pp. 18-21.
6 Ogham consaine refers to a type of ogham “that uses only consonants,
semivowels and the diphtong "ui", (H.Mountain, The Celtic Encyclopedia
Vol.5, p.1237, 1998). It stands for a type of ogham without vowels,
with the vowels being represented by the combination of consonants.
7 J. Polansky, “Preliminary Studies at Tollard House Ogam Cave,
Argyll, Scotland”, in The Epigraphic Society Occasional Papers,
Vol.14,1985, pp. 155-159.
8 R.L. Pyle, “An 8th Century Irishman in West Virginia”, in Ancient
American, Archaeology of the Americas Before Columbus, Vol. 9, No. 56,
2004, p. 6.
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