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Shadow Casting Phenomena at Newgrange Technological University Dublin ARROW@TU Dublin Articles Archaeoastronomy Research 1991 Shadow Casting Phenomena at Newgrange Frank Prendergast Technological University Dublin, frank.prendergast@tudublin.ie Follow this and additional works at: https://arrow.tudublin.ie/arastart Part of the Applied Statistics Commons, Geometry and Topology Commons, Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing Commons, Other Applied Mathematics Commons, Other Astrophysics and Astronomy Commons, Other Computer Sciences Commons, Other Engineering Commons, Other Mathematics Commons, Probability Commons, and the The Sun and the Solar System Commons Recommended Citation Prendergast, F. T. (1991). Shadow Casting Phenomena at Newgrange. Survey Ireland 9: 9–18. doi:10.21427/eebc-6q69 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Archaeoastronomy Research at ARROW@TU Dublin. It has been accepted for inclusion in Articles by an authorized administrator of ARROW@TU Dublin. For more information, please contact arrow.admin@tudublin.ie, aisling.coyne@tudublin.ie. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License Prendergast, F. T. 1991. “Shadow Casting Phenomena at Newgrange.” Survey Ireland 9: 9–18. Prendergast, F. T. 1991. “Shadow Casting Phenomena at Newgrange.” Survey Ireland 9: 9–18. July 2020 Preface Shadow Casting Phenomena at Newgrange is the title of a paper first read to the annual conference of the Irish Society of Surveying Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing held in Trinity College Dublin, April 1991. This e-version is an author copy of that paper providing the opportunity to make descriptive additions, revisions and minor corrections to the original work. The original 35 mm photographic slides recorded in 1986–1989 for illustration purposes are reproduced using Digital Macro Photography and image post-processing with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic CC 7.3.1 Release (Licensed to TU Dublin). The paper draws on an MSc by Research (1990) awarded by the School of Civil Engineering, Trinity College Dublin. The author is a professional geodetic surveyor specialising in field astronomy and holds a PhD (2011) awarded by the School of Archaeology, University College Dublin. Field surveying for the project was carried out with the permission and support of the Office of Public Works and Ms. Clare Tuffy, manager of the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre. Rights © 2020 The Author. Published on-line by TU Dublin ARROW under the terms of the Creative Commons License for non-commercial use only: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs CC BY-NC-ND. This license allows re-users to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in un-adapted form only, for non-commercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. Dr Frank Prendergast FRICS FSCSI Emeritus Research Fellow Technological University Dublin City Campus, Bolton Street, Dublin D01 K822, Ireland e: frank.prendergast@tudublin.ie w: https://arrow.tudublin.ie/authors.html Prendergast, F. T. 1991. “Shadow Casting Phenomena at Newgrange.” Survey Ireland 9: 9–18. Newgrange passage tomb © Photographic Unit National Monuments Service, Dept. of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, with permission. This aerial view of Newgrange passage tomb is looking north and shows the cairn, delimiting kerbstones, the reconstructed quartz and granite facade, and the enclosing ring of twelve monoliths coded with the prefix GC, meaning Great Circle. The irregular numbering system was devised by the excavation director, Prof. Michael J. O’Kelly, to allow for any future discovery of sockets indicative of missing stones. None have been found to date. The remains of passage tomb Z (Site Z) and the trace of a circular Early Bronze Age pit circle which transects the socket of GC-2 are visible on the right- hand side of the image. Shadows cast by the monoliths in this illustration are foreshortened by the mid-morning aspect of the elevated Sun in comparison to the considerably longer shadows evident soon after dawn. Annotations are by the author. Prendergast, F. T. 1991. “Shadow Casting Phenomena at Newgrange.” Survey Ireland 9: 9–18. Newgrange passage tomb facade and entrance © F Prendergast 1988 This image is the left-hand photograph of a stereoscopic pair used to photogrammetrically survey and digitally model the Newgrange passage tomb facade in 1988. Photo-control targets used to scale the digital model in three dimensions appear in the image. Visible archaeological detail includes the reconstructed entrance facade of granite and quartz blocks, the richly embellished entrance kerbstone K1, the three-spiral motif on the left side of the central vertical groove on K1, the lintelled entrance and door-stone on the right of the entrance, and the roof-box structure above the entrance lintel stone. This unique slot-opening enables direct light from the rising Sun on winter solstice to penetrate to the rear of the cruciform burial chamber located c. 19 m inside the cairn. Prendergast, F. T. 1991. “Shadow Casting Phenomena at Newgrange.” Survey Ireland 9: 9–18. Shadow casting from monolith GC-1 onto the entrance kerbstone K1 This image shows the entrance and door-stone to Newgrange passage tomb and shadow casting by monolith GC-1 onto the vertical face of the entrance kerbstone K1. As the climbing Sun increases in altitude and azimuth after dawn, this shadow tracks diagonally downwards across the three-spiral motif, reaching ground level on the right-hand side of the central vertical groove at the top of the kerbstone. The phenomenon recurs biannually and can be observed crossing the width of the motif for c. 20 minutes over 10 days on 15–24 February and again on 18–27 October when the astronomical declination of the Sun is centred on c. -12°. The shadow depicted in this image is a graphic reconstruction from a photograph recorded on 1989 February 2 (see Figure 7 in the following paper). Prendergast, F. T. 1991. “Shadow Casting Phenomena at Newgrange.” Survey Ireland 9: 9–18. Shadow Casting Phenomena at Newgrange F. T. Prendergast Abstract: A digital model of the Newgrange passage tomb and surrounding ring of monoliths known as the Great Circle is used to investigate sunrise shadow casting phenomena at the monument. Diurnal variation in shadow directions and lengths are analysed for their potential use in the Bronze Age to indicate the passage of seasonal time. Computer-aided simulations are developed from a photogrammetric survey to accurately show how three of the largest monoliths, located closest to the tomb entrance and archaeologically coded GC1, GC-1 and GC-2, cast their shadows onto the vertical face of the entrance kerbstone, coded K1. The phenomena occur at astronomically interesting declinations, consistent with possible seasonal observance of the rising Sun at key dates in the Bronze Age when the Great Circle was constructed. The analysis further shows how the dominant three-spiral motif on K1 is repeatedly targeted by shadow casting on these dates, making this artistically elaborate motif focal. This could indicate the positioning of GC1, GC-1 and GC-2 enabled users in the prehistoric past to predict and mark seasonally different periods of ceremonial or ritual importance. The investigation further reveals that GC3 casts a shadow onto the base of GC5 on dates which are compatible with the proposed low-precision calendrical model. The cycle of shadow casting is considered to commence and end at winter solstice. Recorded site photography verifies the computer simulations and provides visualisations for archaeological record. KEYWORDS: archaeoastronomy; Boyne Valley; climate history; megalithic art; Newgrange; passage tomb; shadow casting; stone circle; winter solstice Prendergast, F. T. 1991. “Shadow Casting Phenomena at Newgrange.” Survey Ireland 9: 9–18. Introduction Newgrange passage tomb, Co. Meath, in east Ireland (latitude +53°.6947, longitude -6°.4756) is situated on a low glacial ridge fourteen kilometres west of the coastal town of Drogheda. The elevation of the ridge is c. 55 m above mean sea level affording a commanding view of the River Boyne and its flood plain one kilometre to the south. The monument consists of a large round kerbed cairn with an entrance passage in the south-east sector leading to an internal cruciform burial chamber. Four smaller passage tombs are located on the same ridge, sites K and L to the west and sites Z and Z1 to the east. Additional Neolithic and Bronze Age structures (passage tombs, cairns, megalithic structures and enclosures) are distributed between the ridge and river. The cairn is encircled by twelve monoliths which vary greatly in their spacing, distance from the kerb and height above ground level (Figure 1). Fig. 1. Plan of Newgrange passage tomb and Great Circle monoliths. (Surveyed 1988 September 23, F Prendergast) Neolithic tombs in Ireland are typologically termed court, portal or passage and were built during the fourth and early third millennia BC. The passage type, one of which is the subject of this paper, is characterised by a round mound of turves and stones delimited by contiguous kerbstones. Entry to the burial chamber is via the passage formed by side orthostats roofed with relieving stone lintels. Chamber shapes are undifferentiated (no distinction between the passage and the chamber), round, polygonal or cruciform. The cruciform chamber is the most developed having three recesses, often with a basin stone receptacle containing human cremated remains. Passage tombs are frequently situated on high ground in dense or distributed clusters; some are isolated. Location on high ground offered vantage and intervisibility and these attributes may have held additional meaning for their communities (Herity 1974). The axial orientation of some tombs are also known to be astronomically aligned towards the rising or setting Sun at key times in the year such as the solstices (Patrick 1974a). This paper describes investigations carried out by the author at Newgrange in the late 1980s into seasonal sunrise shadow casting phenomena by monoliths GC-2, GC-1, GC1, GC3 and GC5 prominently clustered at the front of the tomb (see Figure 1).
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