Wedge Tomb from Toormore
The excavation of the Wedge Tomb of Toormore ( Irish An Tuar Mór ) in County Cork in Ireland was carried out in 1990. The facility is located on a seven-meter-wide terrace between two east-west oriented rock ridges on the Mizen Peninsula , on the south side of the R591 road from Schull to Goleen. Toormore, located near Toormoor Bay, was rediscovered during excavations at Wedge Tomb von Altar in 1989 after it was found by a local historian in the 1930s. Wedge Tombs ( German "Keilgräber" ), formerly also called "wedge-shaped gallery grave", are aisle-free, mostly undivided megalithic buildings from the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age .
description
The megalithic complex was in a ruinous condition. It consisted of two standing and two overturned orthostats and a displaced keystone that superimposed another orthostat. An area of 124 m² around the chamber has been excavated. It did not produce any finds, but evidence of the damage to the system during stone extraction for road construction.
The excavation of the chamber revealed a number of sediments, but they were largely free of archaeological material. A shallow pit at the eastern end of the chamber contained what was probably an animal bone fragment. In contrast to the nearby altar, no shells or cremated human bones were found. No unburned bones were found either, although indirect evidence of burial through a small stone box with a cover was found on the south side of the chamber. The excavation revealed a number of indications of structural features, including the use of trenches instead of individual holes to position the orthostats. Evidence of an endplate was only found at the eastern (rear) end of the chamber.
It is uncertain whether the loose distribution of stones in the basal layer belongs to a primary mound , or whether they are reading stones. A low slab set at right angles to the outside of the tomb within this stone layer in a shallow pit was also found. A bronze ax and a copper fragment from the Early Bronze Age (1700–1500 BC) were found next to this stone.
The restored monument consists of a 4.25 m long gallery, which tapers in width from 1.88 m in the west (entrance side) to 1.2 m on the rear side of the chamber. A northern row of three bearing stones faces a southern row of two bearing stones separated by a small gap. The capstone on the back of the chamber, which is missing on the entrance side, has been preserved. The interior height is 1.29 m at the entrance and 0.92 m at the eastern end.
Nearby
Nearby are the Wedge Tombs of Altar , Arduslough and Kilbronogue, as well as the Boulder Burials of Dunmanus East, Lisheen and Coorydarrigan.
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. (last accessed on December 3, 2012)
Coordinates: 51 ° 31 '8.7 " N , 9 ° 39' 4.8" W.