Figure 20.15 Knowth kerbstone 15, the sundial stone.
Figure 20.13 Knowth mace head, carved from flint.
Concentric Circles
Serpentiniforms
Figure 20.16 Knowth kerbstone 78.
Figure 20.14 What the Knowth mace head would have originally looked like with a handle.
Quartz Stones
White quartz stones are laid on the ground in front of the eastern entrance, creating a ceremonial or restricted area. This is a different interpretation of the purpose of the quartz stones to the arrangement made at Newgrange during its reconstruction.
Decorated Stones at Knowth
The greatest number of decorated stones is at Knowth – about half of all the Stone Age art in Ireland. Many of the 127 stones in the kerb are elaborately patterned. Kerbstone 15, which looks like a sundial, can be interpreted as a lunar calendar recording the phases of the moon (Fig. 20.15). Kerbstone 78 is also thought to refer to phases of the moon, although the designs are quite different. Wavy lines and circles dominate the pattern, which flows over the entire surface of the stone (Fig. 20.16).
CHAPTER 20 THE STONE AGE (c. 4000–2000 BC) Dowth (c. 3200 BC)
Dowth has not yet been thoroughly excavated, but it has two passages facing west. One is a short passage with a circular chamber. The other passage is longer with a cruciform chamber containing a basin stone. There are many decorated stones in this mound as well. We will know more when a complete survey has been done.
Newgrange (c. 3200 BC)
Newgrange was built about 3200 BC. It was excavated from 1967 to 1975, when it was reconstructed into the shape that we see today (Fig. 20.17).
The most well known of the Boyne Valley mounds, Newgrange is famous for the following:
l The ‘roof box’ over its entrance allows the sun to shine down the long passage into the furthest recesses of the chamber (a total of 24 m) on the days around 21 December (the midwinter solstice, the shortest day) each year.
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UNIT 7 PRE-CHRISTIAN IRELAND (c. 4000 BC–AD 500)
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