Keel East
Keel East is a megalithic type Court Tomb , the v during the 4th and 3rd millennium. BC in the Neolithic on Achill Island in County Mayo in Ireland . Court Tombs are among the megalithic chamber tombs ( English chambered tombs ) of the British Isles . With around 400 specimens, they are found almost exclusively in Ulster in the north of Ireland or in Northern Ireland . 60 of them are found in County Mayo.
Four such plants are located on the southern slope of Slievemore Mountain, on the north coast of Achill Island (three of them north of the road from Keel to Dugort, also Doogort). They were examined in 1950 by Ruaidhrί De Valera and Seán 0 Nualláin. Two are badly preserved. The best preserved is the Court Tomb "Keel East". The Irish large stone graves, of which there are four primary types, were used as collective graves.
Keel East is east of the abandoned village of Slievemore at an altitude of 150 feet. Here begins the rugged upper zone of the mountain, which is 672 m high. The court tomb consists of an approximately round, five meter deep courtyard that leads to a gallery with three chambers. Around 15 curb stones, each around 1.6 m high (mostly fallen over), form the circle of the courtyard. Two stones are positioned lengthways at the entrance. A particularly large slab on the gallery is the only remaining capstone. No remains of the former hill have survived.
An earthwork extends 200 m to the west and connects the court tomb with another monument interpreted as ancient. O'Donovan called the trench "Danish Ditch" because it was built by Danes or Vikings based on local tradition .
See also
literature
- Elizabeth Shee Twohig: Irish Megalithic tombs Princes Risborough Buckinghamshire 1990 ISBN 0-7478-0094-4
- Jürgen E. Walkowitz: The megalithic syndrome. European cult sites of the Stone Age (= contributions to the prehistory and early history of Central Europe. Vol. 36). Beier & Beran, Langenweißbach 2003, ISBN 3-930036-70-3 .
Web links
- Description Engl. and picture (last accessed on December 10, 2012)
- Description Engl. and picture (last accessed July 8, 2015)
- Description Engl. and map
Coordinates: 53 ° 59 '59.3 " N , 10 ° 3' 31.2" W.