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Early Megaliths Ireland

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  Posted by henvell (U1781664) on Tuesday, 10th March 2009

  Most early megaliths in Ireland tend to be more modest than those in Moriban,western France [B Cuncliffe,2008].On Knocknarea Peninsula,County Sligo,NW Ireland,the Carrowmore stone chambers, dolomens,and lithic circles overlook the Atlantic Ocean.C14 dates [26] for eight Carrowmore tombs and one Primrose Grange tomb range from ca 4300-3500BC and are older than New Grange/Knowth by the Irish Sea [G Burenhult,2005].
  
  Wood remains in post holes at Carrowmore tomb 4 date to 5620-5310BC,which could indicate that the area had ritual significance prior to megalith construction.Numerous wood remnants in Britain predate the megalith era [eg:the post holes in the Stonehenge car park].Many of the Carrowmore tombs,which were made from glacial rocks on the adjacent mountains,have been destroyed.Except for the two most northern tombs entrances face west
  and east towards the centre of the cemetery.The
  configuration appears to have been determined from its inception and might have evolved from a long ritual tradition at Carrowmore [ibid].
  
  Tomb 51 is the largest and occupies the highest ground at the centre of the cemetery.In contrast to the other tombs,it is covered by a 32m diameter crain.The unique burial chamber is a rectangular cist under a flat,limestone roof slab,with circular carvings on the front side of the roof [pecked designs].C14 dates for pits and burnt areas infer that the central chamber was constructed ca 3550BC.A human cranial fragment dates to ca 3500 BC.Three large boulders [ca4100BC] beside the central chamber may be
  remnants of an earlier megalith structure [ibid].
  
  Primrose Grange tomb [ca4250-3770BC] is 2km SW of
  Carrowmore cemetery.Primrose Grange funerary items,inhumation practices and structural morphology differ from those in the main Carrowmore complex,where typical grave goods include antler pins,with mushroom heads,and clay or stone round balls similar to the ones at
  Skara Brae.These are not found in the Primrose Grange Graves,where exceptional chert artifacts, which are mainly leaf shaped or pointed arrows dominate.Different contemporary modes of interment,which probably reflect variable cultural values,suggests that hierarchial
  polarization was less developed during the early
  megalith era on Knoakarea Peninsula [ibid].
  
  It is difficult to rationalize why the earliest megaliths are at the the NW extremity of Ireland distal to the later ritual centres proximal to the Irish Sea [eg New Grange/Knowth].

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