Megalithic sites in Ireland
Megalithic systems in Ireland ( Irish Tuamaí Meigiliteacha in Éirinn ) are large stone graves from the Neolithic . In Ireland there are around 1,600 megalithic tombs dating from between 4000 and 2000 BC. Come from BC. About 10 percent of all systems were examined, most of which were passage tombs .
Classification
The Neolithic megalithic complexes on the Irish island consist of four main types, in addition to a number that could not be assigned to any type due to their shape or extensive destruction:
- 400 systems are court tombs in a wider range of variations
- 219 systems are Passage Tombs (also common outside of Ireland)
- 185 systems are Portal Tombs (also common outside of Ireland)
- 569 systems are wedge tombs
In addition, at the transition to the Bronze Age , from around 2500 BC BC, also different stone boxes . The eleven previously discovered Linkardstown types are usually not counted among the megalithic sites.
- 931 stone boxes
The numbers were obtained from the websites of the Irish National Monument Service and the Northern Ireland Sites & Monument Record .
distribution
Court Tomb | Passage tomb | Portal tomb | Wedge Tomb | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Leinster | 11 | 83 | 24 | 19th |
Muenster | 7th | 9 | 21st | 337 |
Connacht | 197 | 90 | 44 | 125 |
Ulster | 185 | 37 | 96 | 88 |
The northern half of the island has significantly more systems than the southern half.
- The four counties of Kildare , Laois , Offaly and Westmeath are practically empty .
- Court Tombs are located in the northern half of the island with high concentrations in western Connemara and on the north coast of County Mayo .
- Passage Tombs are primarily located in the northern half of the island, where they form large, so-called cemeteries in several places in the southern edge zone.
- Portal tombs are mainly located in the north and south-east halves of the island without forming concentrations.
- Wedge Tombs are primarily located in the western half of the island with concentrations in Counties Clare and Cork .
Marginalized groups
A small group, primarily in Connemara , which are also known as "simple chambered tombs", is considered to be very old, although it has not been examined in more detail and cannot be assigned to any classical type . (→ Megaliths in Connemara ) Listoghil and Primrosegrange in County Sligo are also of this type . Some systems, especially in Northern Ireland , are mixed types between court and portal tombs or court and wedge tombs.
- Boulder burials are regionally occurring systems that represent unusual phenomena in a megalithic context and come from the Bronze Age.
- British archeology refers to a small group (about 70 plants) in Cornwall and on the Isles of Scilly as Entrance Grave , which is represented in Ireland by a few plants near Tramore in County Waterford .
See also
Wedge Tomb in Clooneen, County Clare
Proleek , a portal tomb in County Louth
literature
- Archaeological Inventory of County Galway. Volume 1: Paul Gosling: West Galway (including Connemara and the Aran Islands). Stationery Office, Dublin 1993, ISBN 0-7076-0322-6 .
- William Copeland Borlase : The Dolmens of Ireland, their Distribution, Structural Characteristics, and Affinities in Other Countries; together with the folk-lore attaching to them and traditions of the Irish people. 3 volumes, Chapman & Hall, London 1897 ( online ).
- Eammon Cody : Survey of the Megalithic tombs of Ireland. 6. Countiy Donegal. Stationery Office, Dublin 2002, ISBN 0-7557-1248-X ( PDF (part 1); 20.1 MB , PDF (part 2); 20.3 MB , PDF (part 3); 23.4 MB , PDF ( Part 4); 17.9 MB , PDF (Part 5); 19.8 MB , PDF (Part 6); 23 MB , PDF (Part 7); 20.4 MB , PDF (Part 8); 16.3 MB , PDF (part 9); 13 MB ).
- Michael J. O'Kelly: The megalithic tombs of Ireland. In: John D. Evans, Barry Cunliffe , Colin Renfrew (Eds.): Antiquity and Man. Essays in honor of David Glyn. Thames & Hudson, London 1981, ISBN 0-500-05040-6 pp. 177-190.
- Michael Herity : Irish passage graves. Neolithic tombbuilders in Ireland and Britain 2500 BC Irish university press, Dublin 1974, ISBN 0716521679 .
- Michael Herity: The finds from Irish court tombs. In: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section C. Archeology, Celtic studies, history, linguistics, literature. Volume 87/5, 1987, pp. 103-281.
- Carleton Jones : Temples of Stone: Exploring the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland. Collins, Cork 2007, ISBN 978-1905172054 .
- Seán Ó Nualláin : Irish portal tombs: Topography, siting and distribution. In: Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. Volume 113, pp. 75-105.
- Seán Ó Nualláin: Survey of the Megalithic tombs of Ireland. 5. Countiy Sligo. Stationery Office, Dublin 1989, ISBN 0-7076-0080-4 ( PDF (text volume); 16.2 MB , PDF (table volume); 9.4 MB ).
- Ruaidhrí de Valera , Seán Ó Nualláin: Survey of the Megalithic tombs of Ireland. 1. County Clare. Stationery Office, Dublin 1961 ( PDF (text volume); 13 MB ).
- Ruaidhrí de Valera, Seán Ó Nualláin: Survey of the Megalithic tombs of Ireland. 2. County Mayo. Stationery Office, Dublin 1964 ( PDF (text volume); 15.9 MB , PDF (table volume); 7.9 MB ).
- Ruaidhrí de Valera, Seán Ó Nualláin: Survey of the Megalithic tombs of Ireland. 3. Galway Counties, Roscommon, Leitrim, Longford, Westmeath, Laoighis, Offaly, Kildare, Cavan. Stationery Office, Dublin 1972 ( PDF (text volume); 17.9 MB , PDF (table volume); 4.8 MB ).
- Ruaidhrí de Valera, Seán Ó Nualláin: Survey of the Megalithic tombs of Ireland. 4. Counties of Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary. Stationery Office, Dublin 1982 ( PDF (text volume); 14.9 MB , PDF (table volume); 8.1 MB ).
- Elizabeth Shee Twohig: Irish Megalithic Tombs. Princes Risborough, Shire 1990. ISBN 0-7478-0094-4 .
Web links
- Megalithic Ireland
- irishmegaliths.org.uk
- Megalithic Monuments of Ireland
- Schematic pictures of the types (texts in English)
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Carleton Jones, Temples of Stone. Exploring the megalithic tombs of Ireland. Collins Press, Doughcloyne 2007, p. 10
- ↑ http://webgis.archaeology.ie/historicenvironment/
- ↑ https://apps.communities-ni.gov.uk/NISMR-PUBLIC/Default.aspx