Mound of the Hostages
The megalithic complex Mound of the Hostages ( Irish Dumha na nGiall ; ( German "Hill of Hostages" ) - also called Castleboy) is the oldest monument on the Hill of Tara in County Meath in Ireland . The round hill, about 15.0 m in diameter and three meters high, dates from the final phase of the Neolithic , between 3000 and 2500 BC. Chr. And is a system of the type Passage Tomb . In contrast to some similar systems, there is no evidence of a surrounding ditch. The hill is north of Cormac's house ( Irish Teach Cormaic ) and a little south of the council of the synods, one of the rare councils with three concentric walls. The top of the hill is the highest point in the landscape.
description
The chamber is only four meters long, 1.8 meters high and one meter wide. The seven bearing stones and two portal stones are complete. Two of the once three cap stones have been preserved. The chamber is divided into three compartments by threshold stones ( English Sill stones ), in which corpses were found. Outside, immediately north of the bearing stones and behind the southern portal stone , there are three small stone boxes . The hill was built from the early Neolithic to 1600 BC. Used for burials and probably cleared several times in the 1500 years or so. Proof of at least 200 cremations was successful here.
Petroglyphs
A decorated stone stands near the entrance. Rock carvings of this type occur only on Irish and Welsh Passage Tombs and have their counterparts in designs by Fourknocks , Knockmany , Knockroe , Knowth , Loughcrew and Newgrange .
See also
literature
- G. Cooney: Space, Place and People: unfolding the role of Irish megalithic tombs pp. 331–345 In: KW Beinhauer (Ed.) Studies on Megalithics 1999 ISBN 3-930036-36-3
- Elizabeth Shee Twohig: Irish Megalithic tombs Princes Risborough Buckinghamshire 1990 ISBN 0-7478-0094-4
Web links
Coordinates: 53 ° 34 ′ 46.1 " N , 6 ° 36 ′ 42.2" W.