NEWGRANGE

:''For the Clannad song, see Newgrange (song)''
'Newgrange' (Irish: ''Dún Fhearghusa'') is one of the passage tombs of the ''Brú na Bóinne'' complex in County Meath, one of the most famous prehistoric sites in the world and the most famous of all Irish prehistoric sites. Newgrange is the oldest surviving building in the world.

Contents

History

Solstice Event

Art

Neolithic and Beaker Period

Newgrange in Irish Mythology

Access to Newgrange

Newgrange in Fiction

References

External links

History

Originally built between c.3300-2900 BC according to Carbon-14 dates (Grogan 1991), it is more than 500 years older than the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, and predates Stonehenge trilithons by about 1,000 years (although the earliest stages of Stonehenge are roughly contemporary with Newgrange). It lay lost for over 4,000 years due to mound slippage, until the late 17th century, when men looking for building stone uncovered it, and described it as a cave.
Newgrange was excavated and much restored between 1962 and 1975, under the supervision of Prof. Michael J O'Kelly, Dep't. of Archaeology, University College, Cork (O'Kelly 1986). It consists of a vast man-made stone and turf mound retained within a circle of 97 large kerbstones topped by a high inward-leaning wall of white quartz and granite. Most of the stones were sourced locally (within a radius of 20km or so) but the quartz and granite stones of the facade must have been sourced further afield, most probably in Wicklow and Dundalk bay respectively.
As part of the restoration process the white quartzite stones and cobbles were fixed into a near vertical steel reinforced concrete wall surrounding the entrance of the mound. This restoration is controversial among the archaeological community. Critics of the wall point out that the technology did not exist when the mound was created to fix a retaining wall at this angle. Another theory is that the white quartzite stones formed a plaza on the ground at the entrance.
Within the mound, a long passage, going in approximately one third of the length of the mound, leads to a cruciform (cross-shaped) chamber. The passage itself is over 60 feet (18m) long. The burial chamber has a corbelled roof which rises steeply upwards to a height of nearly 20 feet (6m). A tribute to its builders, the roof has remained essentially intact and waterproof for over 5,000 years.
Newgrange appears to have been used as a tomb. The recesses in the cruciform chamber hold large stone basins into which were placed cremated human remains. During excavation, the remains of five individuals were found. It is speculated that the sun formed an important part of the religious beliefs of the neolithic ("New" Stone Age) people who built it. Formerly the mound was encircled by an outer ring of immense standing stones, of which there are twelve of a possible thirty-seven remaining. However, it seems that the stone circle which encircled Newgrange is not contemporary with the monument itself but was placed there some 1,000 years later in the Bronze Age.

Solstice Event

Every year, at the time of the winter solstice, the sun shines directly along the long passage into the chamber for about 17 minutes as it rises. The alignment with the sun is too precise to have occurred by chance. The sun however, does not enter the passage at Newgrange through the main entrance, but rather through a specially contrived opening, known as a roofbox, which is directly above the entrance. Although solar alignments are not uncommon among passage graves, Newgrange is the only one known to contain the additional roofbox feature. The solar alignment at Newgrange is also still very precise compared to similar phenomena at other passage graves such as Dowth or Maes Howe in the Orkney islands, off the coast of Scotland. See also:Technical Facts Concerning The Observation of The Winter Solstice At Newgrange.

Art

Spiral and lozenge motifs engraved on the magnificent entrance slab, "one of the most famous stones in the entire repertory of megalithic art", include a triple spiral motif, found only at Newgrange and repeated along the passage and again inside the chamber, which is reminiscent of the triskelion motif of the Isle of Man, of ancient Sicily and of several passage tombs on the island of Anglesey in North Wales. There are further examples of megalithic art on many other kerbstones at Newgrange (notably Kerbstone 52 and 67). However, the majority of the megalithic art in the Brú na Bóinne complex is located at Newgrange's sister tomb, Knowth.
Near Newgrange are many other passage tombs, the largest being Knowth, and another significant tomb, Dowth. These tombs are all contemporary with Newgrange and together they and their 37 smaller satellite tombs form the Brú na Bóinne complex.

Neolithic and Beaker Period

In the Neolithic period, Newgrange continued as a focus of ceremonial activity. New monuments added to the site included a timber circle to the south-east of the main mound and a smaller timber circle to the west. The eastern timber circle consisted of five concentric rows of pits. The outer row contained wooden posts. The next row of pits had clay linings and was used to burn animal remains. The three inner rows of pits were dug to accept the animal remains. Within the circle were post and stake holes associatd with Beaker pottery and flint flakes. The western timber circle consisted of two concentric rows of parallel postholes and pits defining a circle 20 m in diameter. A concentric mound of clay was constructed around the southern and western sides of the mound and covered a structure consisting of two parallel lines of post and ditches that had been partly burnt. A free-standing circle of large stones was constructed encircling the mound. Near the entrance, 17 hearths were used to set fires. These structures at Newgrange are generally contemporary with a number of Henges known from the Boyne Valley, at Newgrange Site A, Newgrange Site O, Dowth Henge and Monknewtown Henge.

Newgrange in Irish Mythology

According to Irish mythology, Newgrange was one of the sidhe, or fairy-mounds, where the Tuatha Dé Danann lived. It was built by the god Dagda, but his son Aengus later tricked him out of it. It is named for the goddess Boann, the mother of Aengus, who is also credited with the creation of the River Boyne. According to some versions of the story, the hero Cúchulainn was born there. However, most of the mythical cycles associated with Newgrange date from the Celtic era of Irish history and mythology. The monument was already in existence for well over 2,000 years before the Celtic era.

Access to Newgrange

Access to Newgrange is by guided tour only. Tours begin at the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre in Donore, Co. Meath.

Newgrange in Fiction

In ''Demon Thief'' by Darren Shan, one of the characters said that Newgrange had been built by the "old creatures", a magical race who lived on Earth before humans and protected it from the "Demonata".
In ''Ireland'' by Frank Delaney, the wandering Storyteller tells the story of the construction of Newgrange, the purpose being to commemorate the ancestors and to allow them to be remembered for all of time.

References

★ Grogan, E. 1991. “Prehistoric and Early Historic Cultural Change at Brugh na Bóinne.” in ''Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy'' 91C, pp126-132

★ O’Kelly, M.J. 1982. ''Newgrange. Archaeology Art and Legend.'' London: Thames and Hudson

External links

★ Information on Newgrange by Meath Tourism website managed by Meath County Council

★ Newgrange info website

★ Newgrange information and photos

★ Irish passage tombs and other Neolithic monuments in excellent context

★ 101 Facts About Newgrange

★ Boyne Valley Portal Website - Information on Newgrange

★ Archaeogeodesy, a Key to Prehistory

★ Preliminary Archaeogeodesy Study Results for Three Major Neolithic Complexes