Megalithic Tombs, Mounds and Cairns

Megalithic Tombs
Mounds, Cairns, Barrows
Megalithic Tombs
•Megalithic Tombs are those stone monuments erected during prehistory including Court Tombs, Portal Tombs, Passage Tombs, Linkardstown Cists, Wedge Tombs.
•We should also include Stone Circles with this group.
•While we often use the term ‘tomb’ to describe them, the evidence from them suggest more complex uses than simply burial as they seem to have been the focus for other activities and ceremonies.
Megalithic Terms
•Orthostat
•Kerb
•Lintel
•Capstone

Megalithic Tombs
•Broadly speaking, the Passage Tombs, Court Tombs and Portal Tombs are Neolithic in date.
•The Wedge Tombs are mainly Bronze Age in date. Their distribution is also significantly different.
Court Tombs
•Also known as Court Graves, Horned Cairns

•390 examples are known (eg Creggandevesky, in Co Tyrone)

•Various types of court tomb have been identified:
–Dual Court Tombs
–Central Court Tombs
–Transeptal Court Tombs

Court Tombs: Layout
•Divided into two basic parts:
–a long chamber which contains smaller compartments in which remains were deposited
–a large open-space or court at the entrance to the chamber
•Court marked by large standing stones.
•Chamber is roofed by a stone mound which tapered toward the back.
Court Tombs – Distribution Map
Court Tombs - Distribution
•Distribution also reflected in tomb styles.
•In the north-east there is a preference for simple tombs with open crescent shaped courts.
•Elaborate monuments with more complex courts and found in the north-west
Court Tombs – Distribution Map
Note the preference for Central and Full Court tombs in the west
Court Tombs – Full Court Tombs
•Creevykeel, Co. Sligo
Court Tombs – Dual Court Tombs
•Audleystown, Co. Down

•Cohaw, Co. Cavan
Court Tombs - Transeptal
•Behy, Co. Mayo
Court Tombs - Construction
•Where chambers are present, 70% of tombs have less than 2 compartments.
•The cairn is generally retained by a revetment of orthostats
•Court is usually defined by orthostats and occasionally dry-walling
•Chambers can be separated into compartments by jamb-stones and sill-stones


Court Tombs – Finds
•Tombs show a preference in alignment – open court tombs often face between north-east and south-east
•Burnt and unburnt bones have been found in court tombs, but cremation appears to be more common
•Range of pottery and flint often found
–Carinated Bowls, Decoarted Bowls and Bipartite Bowls
–Flint arrowheads, scrapers and knives

Court Tombs - Date
•Dated examples may begin as early as 4000 BC
•Most dated examples suggest construction and use during the period between 3750 BC and 3250 BC

Court Tombs – Houses of the Dead
•One court tomb, at Ballyglass, Co. Mayo, was found to overlie a Neolithic house.
•Some people see Court Tombs as stone versions of contemporary houses, but built as houses of the dead rather than the living.
Portal Tombs
•Also known as Dolmens, Trigaliths, Diarmuid and Grainne’s Bed, Druidical Altars

•174 examples are known

•Most portal tombs are of a simple type although occasional variations have been identified but these are very rare:
–Dual Portal Tombs (e.g. Ballyrenan, Co. Tyrone)
Portal Tombs: Layout
•Usually formed of:
–a rectangular chamber
–Two stones mark either side of the entrance (the portal stones)
–A single large capstone for the roof (occasionally two stones are present)
–Largest capstone is Brownshill in Carlow (100 tons)
•There is often a cairn present, although this is not always the case.
Portal Tombs – Distribution Map
Note large gaps across areas of the midlands, west, south-west and north-east
Portal Tombs - Features
•Dual Portal Tomb at Ballyrenan, Co. Tyrone
•Note blocking stone at front of tomb - Drumanone, Co. Roscommon
Portal Tombs – Finds
•Tombs show no preference in alignment – often they roughly face east or uphill
•Many have stream-side or valley bottom locations
•Mainly burnt bones have been found in portal tombs
•Range of finds from portal tombs includes:
–Carinated Bowls and Bipartite Bowls
–Flint arrowheads, scrapers and knives
–Stone axes
–Beads

Portal Tombs - Date
•Dates seem to be very similar to Court Tombs although the picture isn’t very clear
•Dated examples begin as early as 4000 BC
•Most dated examples suggest use during the period between 3750 BC and 3250 BC

Passage Tombs
•Also known as Passage Graves, Druids Stones
•230 examples are known
•Several basic types of passage tombs have been identified:
–Simple passage tombs
–Cruciform passage tombs
Passage Tombs: Layout
•Usually formed of:
–a circular cairn or kerb circle
–A chamber within the cairn or kerb circle
–A passage providing access to the central chamber

Passage Tombs
•Newgrange, Co. Meath
The Winter Solstice
•Today it is best known for its association with the winter solstice.
•This was only re-discovered during the excavations.
Passage Tombs
•Entrance with decorated stone and famous light box.
Passage Tombs – Distribution Map
•Note gaps in distribution in most of the midlands, south-west and west.
•Also note cemeteries.
Passage Tombs – Simple Passage Tombs

Ballintoy, Co. Antri
Baltinglass Hill, Co. Wicklow
Passage Tombs – Simple Passage Tombs
•Carrowmore, Tomb 7, Co. Sligo
Passage Tombs – Cruciform Tombs
•Cruciform passage tomb at Knowth in Co. Meath
•Note the smaller ‘satellite’ tombs surrounding the main tomb
Passage Tombs - Distribution
•Passage tombs are found singly and in groups (cemeteries)
•Main passage tomb cemeteries are in the Boyne valley (Meath), Loughcrew (Meath)l, Carrowkeel (Sligo), Carrowmore (Sligo)
•A cemetery is usually defined as a group of more than 5
Passage Tombs – Finds
•Tombs often seem to be aligned towards significant astronomies such as the winter solstice
•Mainly burnt bones have been found in passage tombs
•Large stone basins are known
•Range of finds from passage tombs includes:
–Carrowkeel Ware pottery
–Beads, pendants, bone and antler pins
–Stone Balls

Passage Tombs - Date
•Some dated examples begin as early as 5500 BC – this is often challenged
•Most dated examples suggest use during the period after 3500 BC and before 2850 BC
•The great passage tombs like Knowth and Newgrange were built between 3250 BC and 2950 BC.

Wedge Tombs
•Also known as Gallery Graves
•505 examples are known
•Two basic types of wedge tombs have been identified:
–Short gallery (Parknabinnia, Co. Clare)
–Long gallery (Ballyedmonduff, Co. Dublin)
Wedge Tombs: Layout
•Usually formed of:
–A gallery
–An outer revetment
–Generally roofed with large stones decreasing in size from front to rear

Wedge Tombs – Distribution Map
Note that wedge tombs do not observe the northern preference of other megalithic tombs

Wedge Tombs – Finds
•Tombs show no preference in alignment – often they roughly face west
•Burnt and unburnt bones have been found in wedge tombs
•Range of finds from wedge tombs is very limited and includes:
–Beaker Pottery
–Barbed and Tanged arrowheads
Wedge Tombs - Date
•Dated examples may start as early as 3000 BC, but it seems more likely most are built after around 2600 BC.
•Most dated examples suggest construction and use during the period between 2600 BC and 1400 BC
•It is possible that some of the stone circles built in the south-west are a late variant style of Wedge Tomb.

Stone Circles: Drombeg, Co. Cork
•Radiocarbon dated to the Late Bronze Age




Linkardstown Cists
•Small group of tombs known which are recognised as a distinct group of individual burials
•Named after first excavated example at Linkardstown in Co. Carlow
•Sites have a central burial chamber located in the centre of a cairn or mound which is not accessed via a passage
•Most dated examples suggest use during the period between 3600 BC and 3300 BC

Linkardstown Cists
•Jerpoint West, Co. Kilkenny showing typical form of central burial chamber: i.e. a polygonal stone cist
•Baunogenasraid, Carlow
Linkardstown Cists
•A group of definite Linkardstown-type burials are known
•Some related ‘individual’ Neolithic burials are also known and considered to be related
Linkardstown Cists – Finds
•Mainly unburnt bones have been found in Linkardstown Cists, mainly of adult males
•Range of finds from Linkardstown Cists includes:
–Bipartite Bowls
Linkardstown Cists
•Poulawack, Co. Clare
•Linkardstown Cist phases – central burial cists covered by a cairn of stones and encircled by a kerb
Linkardstown Cists
•Poulawack, Co. Clare – Typical Linkardstown Cist – not recognisable prior to excavation
Linkardstown Cists
•Poulawack, Co. Clare
•Excavation revealed multiple phases of use
Ballintruer More, Co Wicklow
Clogher Lower (Co. Roscommon)
•Typical mound – Bronze Age in date.
•Central burial sealed by cairn/earthen mound.
Clogher Lower (Co. Roscommon)
Ballinagore (Co. Wicklow)
Knockast, Co. Westmeath
Individual Burial
•CISTS
Segmented Cist
Laughanstown, Co. Dublin
Barrows
•A number of types of burial monument are defined by the presence of a circular ditch
•These might enclose a central burial or include numerous burials
Cherrywood,Co Dublin:Typical Barrow
After excavation – viewed from the north.
Late Bronze Age burial and pit F77
Child burial
Barrow with capping and cremation deposits removed and pit F77 exposed (viewed from north-west)
Pit F77 with circle of stones and cattle teeth in situ
Plan showing location of cremation deposits overlying capping and within ditch fill (see key).
Viewed from the north-west. This is the barrow with the cremated ditch deposits visible and the clay capping in situ.
Beads from cremations with ditch fill