Wedge Tomb by Rathfran
The Wedge Tomb of Rathfran (also called Rathfranpark , Irish Ráth Bhrannaibh ) is located northwest of Killala in County Mayo in Ireland . Wedge Tombs ( German "Keilgräber" ), formerly also called "wedge-shaped gallery grave", are aisle-less, mostly undivided megalithic buildings from the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age .
description
The Wedge Tomb has the remains of its west-east oriented gallery on the north and south sides, with an outer wall made of unusually large stones, which are about 1.0 m away from the gallery sides. At the west end it is about 3.5 m wide and 4.0 m long. It's narrower at the eastern end. The gallery, filled with stones from the recently destroyed “Summerhouse Hill” stone circle, is at least 3.0 m long and about 2.0 m wide at the entrance to the west, where there are two low door stones . On the north side of the gallery two stones have been preserved, one of which is a split block with the flat side facing inwards. The south side has three stones less than 1.0 m high. The north outer wall has four 1.35 to 1.6 m high stones. The four stones in the southern outer wall are 1.65 to 2.0 m high.
On a hill one kilometer north of the Rathfran Friary were two stone circles, the first consists of 13 boulders of various shapes and sizes and has a diameter of about 15 m. The second and smaller one was south of the main circle in the neighboring field and has been destroyed.
Nearby are the Breastagh Wedge Tomb and the Rathfran Stone Circle , a National Monument.
See also
literature
- 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 pictures
- Description Engl. and pictures
- Description stone circle engl. and picture
Coordinates: 54 ° 14 ′ 31.5 ″ N , 9 ° 15 ′ 8.5 ″ W.