We got up early this morning and headed up to Brú na Bóinne (Palace of the Boyne").
This is a "vast Neolithic necroplis" situated around a wide bend in the River Boyne. It is a World Heritage Site in County Meath. The area consists of several different sites, mainly neolithic mounds, chamber tombs, standing stones, henges and other prehistoric enclosures. The main three are Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth. These structures date from as early as the 35th century BC - 32nd century BC. The site predates the pyramids in Egypt and Stonehenge.
The sites are indicative of sophisticated engineering and a knowledge of science and astronomy and art, the most impressive of which is the passage tomb, Newgrange.
From our guidebook:
"Even from afar, you know that Newgrange is something special. Its white, round stone walls topped by a grass dome that looks otherworldly, and just the size is impressive: 80m in diameter and 13m high."
No one is sure exactly what the site was used for but there is no doubt that its construction, while spanning between 5 and thirty years, was meant to be a huge "EAT AT JOE'S CRABHOUSE!!" sign to anyone looking. They know that the site served as a tomb, but was probably also a center for ritual and spirituality.
The entrance is guarded by a carved "kerbstone" with double and triple spirals.
Notice the abstract Neolithic rock art on the front of the stone. This is one of the "most famous stones in the entire repertory of megalithic art.". It is a "triskele" or a triple-spiral motif that has been considered a Celtic symbol but is in fact pre-Celtic. The stone itself is approximately 10 ft. long and 4 ft. high, and about 5 tons in weight.
Here is the entrance to the tomb in 1905:
Another decorated stone stands at the exact opposite site of the mound or "cairn".
"Holding the whole structure together are the 97 boulders of the kerb ring, designed to stop the mound from collapsing outwards. Eleven of these are decorated with motifs similar to those on the main entrance stone, although only three have extensive carvings."
Geological evidence indicates that much of the building blocks were collected from a rocky beach at Clogerhead, Co Louth about 20 km to the northeast. Perhaps these rocks were transported by sea and up the River Boyne (Benozzo 2010).
The outside of the tomb is decorated with white quartzite stones. This was obviously not how the wall was found originally, but the main archeologist studying the site, Professor Frank Mitchell, found the stones in the area and has concluded that the wall surrounding the tomb looked something like this:
The stone was originally obtained from the Wicklow Mountains (70 km to the south of the site), probably also transported by sea and then up the river. They also found granite from the Mourne Mountains in Northern Ireland.
In all, more than 200,000 tons of earth and stone are in the mound. Here's a model of the site.
Here is the Mound plan:
The entrance leads to the chambered passage. The passage is about 60 (about 1/3 of the way into the center of the structure) feet uphill and tight squeeze between 43 upright stones leading to the tomb chamber.
Unfortunately we couldn't take any pictures of the chamber because it was incredible.
At the center, you stand under a high (6 meters) "corbelled" vault roof that has not been altered since it was first built. The ceiling shows no evidence of smoke.
The chamber has three recesses with large flat "basin stones" where they found cremated human bones.The walls of the chamber are also decorated with the megalithic art but also with (relatively) new graffiti (we saw one carving from 1871!).
"A complex draining system means that not a drop of water has penetrated the interior in 40 centuries."
The most amazing part of the whole site is something that was confirmed only in 1969. Local lore claimed that a beam of sunlight illuminated the chamber of Newgrange around the time of the winter solstice. Professor Michael J O'Kelly, who was in charge of excavations at Newgrange, made careful observations which confirmed that at winter solstice, weather permitting, sunlight entered the passage and chamber via a roofbox specially contrived by the original builders.*
At 8:20 a.m. on the winter solstice (some time between the 19th and the 23rd of December, the rising sun's rays shine through the roof box above the entrance, creep slowly down the long passage and illuminate the tomb chamber for 17 minutes.
The light enters a small slit above the door and, because as you enter the chamber you walk upward, you see that eventually your feet are at the same level as this slit (that was above your head when you entered) and is at the same height as the horizon where the sun will come up.
Anyone can take a shot at seeing this magnificent site of light at the solstice, but because there are limited slots, you have to enter into a lottery. If you don't get in, check out the Newgrange winter solstice webcast!
Our guide was amazing. She turned off the lights for us to see how dark it was (even in the daylight) within the chamber and then used electric lighting to simulate the solstice. She was careful to say that light from the sun would be much more magnificent and varied across the spectrum from "firey reds" to "lemony yellows" "golden amber" and "rose."
Here's a great description of the whole thing by Claire O'Kelly who was part of the original excavation.
Irish folklore, naturally, exudes from Newgrange. Supposedly Cuchulainn was conceived in the chamber.
*From http://homepage.eircom.net/~seanjmurphy/irhismys/newgrknow.htm: "It has now become clear that Knowth is an even more fascinating monument than Newgrange, containing as it does not one but two chambers, and holding on its site the remarkable total of one-quarter of the known megalithic art of Europe. Brennan's claim that the two back-to-back passages at Knowth are aligned to both the sunrise and sunset and are designed to receive beams of light at equinox is testable, and if proven wrong, so be it. But if Brennan is right and no testing takes place, proper account may not be taken of this feature during reconstruction, and an opportunity to better understand the monument and its engravings may be lost. Brennan suggested also that Knowth's chambers may have been aligned to receive moon beams as well as sunlight, and that lunar images appear on some of the inscribed stones. It is ironic also that testing Brennan's 'pseudo-scientific' theories involves no alteration or damage to monuments, whereas 'scientific' archaeological excavation may involve irreparable loss of original features, and indeed the long excavation of Knowth appears to the writer to have been little short of vandalisation."
This is a "vast Neolithic necroplis" situated around a wide bend in the River Boyne. It is a World Heritage Site in County Meath. The area consists of several different sites, mainly neolithic mounds, chamber tombs, standing stones, henges and other prehistoric enclosures. The main three are Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth. These structures date from as early as the 35th century BC - 32nd century BC. The site predates the pyramids in Egypt and Stonehenge.
The sites are indicative of sophisticated engineering and a knowledge of science and astronomy and art, the most impressive of which is the passage tomb, Newgrange.
From our guidebook:
"Even from afar, you know that Newgrange is something special. Its white, round stone walls topped by a grass dome that looks otherworldly, and just the size is impressive: 80m in diameter and 13m high."
No one is sure exactly what the site was used for but there is no doubt that its construction, while spanning between 5 and thirty years, was meant to be a huge "EAT AT JOE'S CRABHOUSE!!" sign to anyone looking. They know that the site served as a tomb, but was probably also a center for ritual and spirituality.
The entrance is guarded by a carved "kerbstone" with double and triple spirals.
Notice the abstract Neolithic rock art on the front of the stone. This is one of the "most famous stones in the entire repertory of megalithic art.". It is a "triskele" or a triple-spiral motif that has been considered a Celtic symbol but is in fact pre-Celtic. The stone itself is approximately 10 ft. long and 4 ft. high, and about 5 tons in weight.
Here is the entrance to the tomb in 1905:
Another decorated stone stands at the exact opposite site of the mound or "cairn".
Geological evidence indicates that much of the building blocks were collected from a rocky beach at Clogerhead, Co Louth about 20 km to the northeast. Perhaps these rocks were transported by sea and up the River Boyne (Benozzo 2010).
The outside of the tomb is decorated with white quartzite stones. This was obviously not how the wall was found originally, but the main archeologist studying the site, Professor Frank Mitchell, found the stones in the area and has concluded that the wall surrounding the tomb looked something like this:
The stone was originally obtained from the Wicklow Mountains (70 km to the south of the site), probably also transported by sea and then up the river. They also found granite from the Mourne Mountains in Northern Ireland.
In all, more than 200,000 tons of earth and stone are in the mound. Here's a model of the site.
Here is the Mound plan:
The entrance leads to the chambered passage. The passage is about 60 (about 1/3 of the way into the center of the structure) feet uphill and tight squeeze between 43 upright stones leading to the tomb chamber.
Unfortunately we couldn't take any pictures of the chamber because it was incredible.
At the center, you stand under a high (6 meters) "corbelled" vault roof that has not been altered since it was first built. The ceiling shows no evidence of smoke.
The chamber has three recesses with large flat "basin stones" where they found cremated human bones.The walls of the chamber are also decorated with the megalithic art but also with (relatively) new graffiti (we saw one carving from 1871!).
"A complex draining system means that not a drop of water has penetrated the interior in 40 centuries."
The most amazing part of the whole site is something that was confirmed only in 1969. Local lore claimed that a beam of sunlight illuminated the chamber of Newgrange around the time of the winter solstice. Professor Michael J O'Kelly, who was in charge of excavations at Newgrange, made careful observations which confirmed that at winter solstice, weather permitting, sunlight entered the passage and chamber via a roofbox specially contrived by the original builders.*
At 8:20 a.m. on the winter solstice (some time between the 19th and the 23rd of December, the rising sun's rays shine through the roof box above the entrance, creep slowly down the long passage and illuminate the tomb chamber for 17 minutes.
The light enters a small slit above the door and, because as you enter the chamber you walk upward, you see that eventually your feet are at the same level as this slit (that was above your head when you entered) and is at the same height as the horizon where the sun will come up.
Anyone can take a shot at seeing this magnificent site of light at the solstice, but because there are limited slots, you have to enter into a lottery. If you don't get in, check out the Newgrange winter solstice webcast!
Our guide was amazing. She turned off the lights for us to see how dark it was (even in the daylight) within the chamber and then used electric lighting to simulate the solstice. She was careful to say that light from the sun would be much more magnificent and varied across the spectrum from "firey reds" to "lemony yellows" "golden amber" and "rose."
Here's a great description of the whole thing by Claire O'Kelly who was part of the original excavation.
Irish folklore, naturally, exudes from Newgrange. Supposedly Cuchulainn was conceived in the chamber.
*From http://homepage.eircom.net/~seanjmurphy/irhismys/newgrknow.htm: "It has now become clear that Knowth is an even more fascinating monument than Newgrange, containing as it does not one but two chambers, and holding on its site the remarkable total of one-quarter of the known megalithic art of Europe. Brennan's claim that the two back-to-back passages at Knowth are aligned to both the sunrise and sunset and are designed to receive beams of light at equinox is testable, and if proven wrong, so be it. But if Brennan is right and no testing takes place, proper account may not be taken of this feature during reconstruction, and an opportunity to better understand the monument and its engravings may be lost. Brennan suggested also that Knowth's chambers may have been aligned to receive moon beams as well as sunlight, and that lunar images appear on some of the inscribed stones. It is ironic also that testing Brennan's 'pseudo-scientific' theories involves no alteration or damage to monuments, whereas 'scientific' archaeological excavation may involve irreparable loss of original features, and indeed the long excavation of Knowth appears to the writer to have been little short of vandalisation."
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