THE BRÚ NA BOINNE the Great Passage Cairns and Prehistoric Art of the Boyne Valley
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Jack Roberts THE BRÚ NA BOINNE The Great Passage Cairns and Prehistoric Art of the Boyne Valley Ireland is uniquely endowed with an incred- years ago, saw enormous developments, ibly rich inventory of archaeological and culturally and economically, a high point of historical monuments and especially those Ireland’s early cultural history. from the earlier prehistoric periods. Sites that date to the Neolithic and Early There is much in the archaeological Bronze Age periods are particularly well record to support this view but the main represented, most notably in the form of evidence for their being well organized megalithic structures of many kinds. There and developed societies inhabiting the are also areas in which the tapestry of land during this time is the great Neolithic their daily lives, their habitation sites and passage tomb complex that lies within the field systems survive, from which it can be area known as the Boyne Valley or Brú na seen that the later period of the Neolithic, Boinne, Ireland’s valley of the gods. For roughly between six and five thousand the ancient Irish, this was their most sacred ground. Pic 1. Newgrange, Ariel View of the Reconstructed Passage Cairn. Photo: Knowth.com 44 Adoranten 2015 Pic 2. Map of the Boyne Valley. Pic 3. Distribution of Passage Cairns in Ireland / Passage Cairns with Megalithic Art There are three principle monuments larly those found in the Sligo area 2. The in this valley, the great passage tombs or great cairns of the Boyne Valley therefore passage cairns of Newgrange, Knowth and represent the zenith of the megalith build- Dowth, and they sit within an landscape ing age, the culmination of many hundreds, that contains numerous ceremonial struc- perhaps thousands of years of this tradition. tures, many dating to the period prior to the erection of the great passage cairns. There are over 300 Boyne Valley type The three great passage cairns are the most passage cairns in Ireland, mostly in the important prehistoric monuments in Ireland northern half but with outliers in the east- as well as being of great significance in the ern section of the island and as far south context of the broader western European as the Limerick – Tipperary border and at megalithic tradition, described by Unesco as least one in the extreme southwest on the a World Heritage Site of ‘outstanding uni- island of Cape Clear. There are also many versal value’. hundreds of uninvestigated and as yet 1 uncategorised cairns across the country, This anciently revered site is situated in particularly in the mountainous areas, many a place where the river forms a sweeping of which are thought to be of the same bend and the principle monuments are situ- tradition. ated on the plateau overlooking the river valley. The site itself and the prehistoric cul- The main concentrations of passage ture that constructed the monuments here cairns outside of the Boyne Valley are at are both known by the name of this river, Loughcrew, about 40km to the northeast, the Boyne or Boinne, and the name Boyne and in the Sligo area near the northwest Culture has become a generic descriptive coast of the island. The Loughcrew pas- for the distinctive type of monuments they sage cairns are considered contemporary built and the megalithic art that is found in with the Boyne cairns as they contain many association with them. stones decorated with megalithic art, while those in the far west are devoid of art and Dates of between 5,300 and 5,500 are are thought to be older. currently suggested for the main phase of construction of the great passage cairns but The later cairns such as Newgrange are the sites on which they stand show evidence superbly constructed monuments, but the of earlier activity that may pre-date them feature which elevates them above all other by hundreds of years. It is as yet unclear megalithic monuments is the extraordinary when the tradition of building passage and very refined art that is found in associa- cairns began but dates in excess of 7,000 tion with them. This Boyne style megalithic years have been suggested for some closely art is of a unique style that is exclusive to related structures in the far west, particu- these particular passage cairns and those Adoranten 2015 45 that are thought to be later monuments. of the Boyne must have been known about While there is a distinct concentration of over a very large area since the stones of the later decorated passage cairns in the which they are composed have been shown east and north the distribution of this type to come from a variety of locations quite of art is actually spread right across the some distance from the site. There is very country with the furthest examples being little naturally available rock and no quar- found on the northeastern extremity of the ries they might have used in the immediate island and at its southwestern extremity area so few, if any, would have been found on the island of Cape Clear. There are also locally. thirteen passage cairns of the Boyne style in the western coast of Wales with a concen- The stones of the passages and internal tration on the island of Anglesea, three of chambers all had to be dragged to the site which have megalithic art. from some unknown distance away and the kerbstone ring, composed of stones of Passage cairns consist of an internal many tons, were mostly sourced from 60 structure composed of a stone passageway to 100km away. The massive amount of leading to an inner chamber. They are often quartz for the exterior of Newgrange and narrowly built and difficult to access and Knowth came from the Wicklow Mountains have been described as artificial representa- about 60km to the south, and the granite tions of caves. The internal passages and cobbles now dotted into the impossibly chambers are skillfully constructed with vertical quartz facade of Newgrange, are large capping stones so that they form all sourced from the storm beaches of Clog- something like an elongated line of dol- ger Head 25km to the east. The cairn that mens, whilst the internal chambers may covered all this constitutes a massive heap be covered over with huge slabs of stone of stones coming from distances as yet uni- or have extremely well constructed ‘cor- dentified. But many different types of stone belled’ roofing, the most superb example were used in the construction of the great is the central chamber of Newgrange. The cairns, too many to be able to identify the passage and chamber was finally covered original source for all of them, so it is possi- over with a cairn of stones, which was then ble that many may have come much greater enclosed within a circle of closely set boul- distances. ders or stones known as kerbstones. Almost all of the known passage cairns consist of The amount of work required to con- massive heaps of stone and rock but when struct the great cairns of the Boyne Valley Prof George Eogan excavated Knowth the is quite astounding and testifies to a large cairn was seen to consist of an alternate and well organised society. The Neolithic layering of different types of earth, clay and appears to have been a very peaceful pe- rock, laid down with deliberation and fore- riod in Irish history for virtually everything thought 3. that remains from that time suggests an overriding emphasis on ceremonial struc- The Boyne Valley passage tombs are tures and a total lack of fortification or war- huge in comparison to the great major- like weaponry. ity of related passage cairns in the rest of the country. Outside of the Boyne Valley the passage cairns are almost all over 10m Boyne Culture Megalithic Art diameters but generally less than 30m, The very refined megalithic art found in whereas the Boyne cairns are all between the Boyne Valley type monuments is the 80-90m in diameter. Not only are they im- most extraordinary and mystical aspect of pressively big but also they are also very the passage cairns. In its diversity of design complex and skillfully built structures, the and quality there is nothing quite like it most refined megalithic architecture of that anywhere in the world of prehistoric art. remote age. The great project on the bend It is also distinctly different to the rock art 46 Adoranten 2015 the most impressive. They are also the most well preserved, most having been protected from weathering either as internal struc- tural components or by having been buried by the collapse of the cairns. Over 80% of all of the megalithic art so far found in Ireland, and the very finest examples, are found within the Boyne Val- ley. There are 84 panels of megalithic art on the stones in and around the great cairn Pic 4. Kerbstone NW4, Knowth of Newgrange and it is thought that not all have been discovered. Dowth has some- what less perhaps not more than about 30, but this cairn has not yet been fully exam- ined and may contain more than is currently known. Knowth, which is a complex site consisting of a main central great cairn sur- rounded by twenty one smaller cairns, has over 250, about 40% of all the megalithic art in the whole of Europe. Many of the decorated stones of this site were however damaged or broken up during various pe- Pic 5. Knowth, Kerbstone SE2 riods of its long history and George Eogan has estimated that there may have origi- found carved into bedrock in various parts nally been upwards of 300 decorated panels of the country being much more complex on the site.