Irish stone boxes

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Kilmashogue stone box
Knockmaree

Irish stone chests secured body and cremation burials as well as depots of excarnated bones on the island of Ireland (Ardra in County Kilkenny ). They mark the transition from collective dumping in megalithic systems to single or occasional double burials ( Brackagh , Newtownstewart ). Most of the boxes are made between 2000 and 1500 BC. BC, i.e. dated to the early Bronze Age (2500–300 BC). In some cases, their construction begins earlier and their use or re- use extends beyond the Irish Iron Age into the 7th century AD. They are found in clusters of cairns and barrows or in flat fields that have been used for centuries.

distribution

The approximately 700  stone boxes are distributed unevenly over the island; their frequency in Ulster and Leinster , the east of the island, is significantly higher than in the rest of the area. Munster remains relatively empty , except for concentrations in the south of County Limerick and in the north of County Cork . The boxes are generally located on ridges or in hills at heights between 30 m and 180 m above sea level. Garrannaguilly and Ballyouskill (both in County Kilkenny ) have boxes erected in places with great visibility.

In parallel to the stone boxes, burials were carried out in round or oval pits. Irrelevant Neolithic burials were found in pits and in places such as Martinstown in County Meath and Lough Gur in County Limerick. The burial custom practiced in the southern half of Ireland during the Neolithic period is characterized by a lack of grave goods, so that they are often not recognizable as Neolithic.

Burial mounds

Grave mound (burial mounds) in Ireland a genus earthen mounds are (no cairn ) that no megalithic mountains and come from a different time. These mounds of earth, which were created later, should not be confused with the long and round mounds (barrows) in England, which were created parallel to the megalithic systems there. They often hold stone boxes. The overgrown surface of unexcavated mounds shows no signs that unequivocally separate a mound of earth (barrow) from a mound of stones, since there are also mounds of stones that have an earthen top layer and look like mounds of earth.

Linkardstown type boxes

Eleven boxes, most of which are located under round hills surrounded by one or more stone circles, already indicate the transition to the Bronze Age . The classic examples of the boxes, also known as megalithic , are in Leinster (9) in the south-east of Ireland: Ballintruer in County Wicklow , Knockmaree in County Dublin and Baunogenasraid and Linkardstown in County Carlow , the latter excavated in 1944 by Joseph Raftery. They consist of central boxes of irregular polygonal shape with a paved floor and inwardly inclined supporting stones in double or triple layers, on which one or two large, heavy cap stones rest. The ceiling of the stone box at Norrismount in County Wexford , however, is formed by overhanging layers of stone. The stone boxes are located in the center of round hills, which consisted of the earth and stones, often also carefully laid turf, and occasionally had a low curb. The Cairn at Poulawack in County Clare should also belong to this group, although its central stone box contained four people and its stone mound contained several, apparently also primary, boxes.

The burials are usually that of a single adult male who is occasionally accompanied by another burial (once a child) and sometimes with bones indicating secondary burial. In the case of Jerpoint West in County Kilkenny , it is corpse burn and animal bones.

In addition to plain Western Neolithic ware , the graves usually contained a round-bottomed pot that often had a large neck area. The pots were marked by a decoration that is often arranged in zones, as in Jerpoint West, or in series of concentrically overlapping areas, as found in Baunogenasraid in County Carlow. But there are also other motifs. In addition, small were bone needles with a round knob, an arrowhead from flint , a polished stone ax and a sample in a pearl found.

distribution

Linkardstown boxes are common between County Dublin and Counties Carlow and Kilkenny (9) and in Limerick (2). Comparable monuments can also be found in Counties Tipperary and Clare.

Time position

The whole group was dated earlier to the end of the Neolithic (around 2000 BC), so that it was the forerunner of the individual burials of the early Bronze Age. However, new radiocarbon dates have shown that they must be dated to the middle of the Neolithic.

The data:

A date for Poulawack turns out to be about the same. These data are comparable to those for the little earlier passage tombs , such as Knowth or Newgrange . They show that the single or double burial in polygonal boxes took place around the same time as the collective burials in other regions of the island.

The later boxes

The later boxes are rectangular or trapezoidal and sunk into the floor. They usually consist of four side stones, with the plates of the long sides often inclined slightly inwards at the top. The capstone, which often protrudes above, is more or less irregularly shaped. Occasionally two capstones are superimposed (Rathconrath, County Westmeath ). The boxes either have roughly body dimensions (0.5 m × 2 m) or are short (80-100 cm long). At least originally, they were all under burial mounds .

  • Short boxes belong to the Early and Middle Bronze Age, while the set of the long ones was used from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Christian Period.
  • Long boxes ( stone box from Fakeeragh ) primarily contained body burials or bone depots , sometimes also cremations. Similarly, in short boxes that primarily contained cremation burials, there are only a few cases of body burials (in a crouched position). In around 50 cases there are two- part boxes (for example Ballinchalla County Mayo , Cavancarragh, County Fermanagh and Rathlin Island), and very rarely three-part boxes (Ballynoe, County Down ).

Bronze Age Cairns and Tumuli

Irish mounds of earth are called tumulus (plur. Tumuli; English barrows ), while piles of stone covered with earth are called cairns. Both species were usually 22 to 25 meters in diameter, although there are also some with 35 m. Many were once surrounded by moats or ramparts. In some cases the curbs that originally encompassed the hill could still be proven. Recent excavations show that such curbs were also set when the mounds were enlarged for subsequent use. At Jerpoint West ( County Kilkenny ) and at Baunogenasraid , ( County Carlow ), there were two inner concentric stone rings in addition to the curb ring. As a rule, layers of soil and sod were piled up to a height of two meters. At Rath, County Wicklow, a double rectangular box and an irregular stone box lay in a natural mound about 60 meters in diameter and five meters high.

The tumuli were used several times or occur in groups (as so-called cemeteries). In Eastern Ireland in particular, many hills were removed or built over by moths (Rathmore County Kildare ). Stone boxes were also installed in Cairns, which date from the Neolithic megalithic phase, during the Bronze Age. In other cases, the Bronze Age deposits took place in the chambers of megalithic systems. Fifteen stone boxes were placed in the Court tomb of Doohatty Glebe, County Fermanagh , and six in the mound of the Portal tomb of Aghnakeagh, County Louth . The mound of the Wedge tomb of Kilmashogue , County Dublin , was enlarged to accommodate secondary deposits. Of these, however, only the food vessels and the cinerary urns in the aisle area have been preserved.

Crate contents

Most of the stone boxes with body burials contained the skeleton of a grown man. Occasionally there is evidence that individuals were dumped in cuff. The most common addition is a decorated food vessel with a sharply drawn-in neck. Similar vessels were found in the earthen tombs of Kiltale, County Meath , Dún Ailinne , County Kildare , and Rathgall , County Wicklow . In the Linkardstown-type boxes, simple round-bottomed kumps indicate the Neolithic tradition. The stone boxes in the Phoenix Park of Dublin and of Jerpoint West included, among skeletons ever a bone toggle in the shape of a dumbbell. The cremation burials in boxes also contain clay urns ( funeral urns or cinerary urns ). These vessels were placed over the cremated remains of earth graves.

Burial grounds

Often there is a central stone box in the cairns or tumuli, which is accompanied by a number of other objects from the Middle Bronze Age. The Dun Ruadh (Red Fort) complex in County Tyrone consists of a cairn surrounded by a moat, stone circle and dry stone wall. Shards of Neolithic earthenware that were found in pits below the cairn indicate that an old burial site was still used. There are a total of 13 stone boxes in the cairn. The stone box of Mount Stewart in County Down, was accompanied by 15 peripheral stone boxes, one of which contained several vessels.

Simultaneous earth burials

The Knockast cairn in County Westmeath contained 43 burials, including five stone boxes of cremations, but most of the corpse or cremation burials were in the ground. Extensive shallow grave cemeteries are for example Edmondstown in County Dublin with 18, Cloughskelt in County Down with 24 and Ballyenahan in County Cork with 17 burials. In the settlement of Knockadoon on Lough Gur , the huddled skeleton of a boy was found in a pit together with a large, decorated Neolithic bowl.

See also

literature

  • John Waddell: The Bronze Age Burials of County Galway In: Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society Volume 34 (1974/1975), pp. 5-20
  • Joseph Raftery: A long stone cist in County Roscommon In: Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society Volume 29 1961 pp. 74-77
  • Joseph Raftery: A long stone cist in County Wicklow In: Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland

Seventh Series, Volume 14, No. 3; 1944 pp. 166-169

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