New rocks, big rocks, old rocks.
Oct. 5th, 2009 12:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ithikaYesterday we visited Brú na Bóinne, which is a series of neolithic chamber toumbs in Ireland roughly halfway between Belfast and Dublin.
There's Newgrange (which was named relatively recently "new farm" by the Cistercians), one of the most famous chamber toumbs, or passage toumbs, in the world. It's oriented to the rising sun on Winter Solstice, so that the chamber is flooded with light just after dawn for I think 5 days surrounding the solstice.
We got to go right inside Newgrange, which was pretty cool. The chamber has an awesome vaulted ceiling that nobody has touched since it was built 5,200 years ago. It also hasn't leaked a single drop of water in that entire time! Remember that this is Ireland, where I think even fire is wet. So that was a pretty awesome thing.
Then there is Knowth, which is a lot bigger than Newgrange, the two passages within it are the first and second longest known to exist in the world. It's kind of a necropolis, too, because there are lots of smaller passage toumbs surrounding it. It also has I think something like 35% of Europe's neolithic (megalithic?) art on the stones that border the mound and within the major complex. Which is quite a lot!
Dowth, which means 'darkness,' apparently, in an ancient dialect of Irish or Gaelic. We didn't get to visit it, as it hasn't been fully excavated. I kind of think that this is a good thing. Interestingly, Dowth is oriented to the setting, rather than the rising, sun. Interesting. Spooky? That's what our guide tried to impose on us!
Yeah. Neolithic stuff is really cool.
Tomorrow we leave Ireland and head back into England. Well, Wales.
There's Newgrange (which was named relatively recently "new farm" by the Cistercians), one of the most famous chamber toumbs, or passage toumbs, in the world. It's oriented to the rising sun on Winter Solstice, so that the chamber is flooded with light just after dawn for I think 5 days surrounding the solstice.
We got to go right inside Newgrange, which was pretty cool. The chamber has an awesome vaulted ceiling that nobody has touched since it was built 5,200 years ago. It also hasn't leaked a single drop of water in that entire time! Remember that this is Ireland, where I think even fire is wet. So that was a pretty awesome thing.
Then there is Knowth, which is a lot bigger than Newgrange, the two passages within it are the first and second longest known to exist in the world. It's kind of a necropolis, too, because there are lots of smaller passage toumbs surrounding it. It also has I think something like 35% of Europe's neolithic (megalithic?) art on the stones that border the mound and within the major complex. Which is quite a lot!
Dowth, which means 'darkness,' apparently, in an ancient dialect of Irish or Gaelic. We didn't get to visit it, as it hasn't been fully excavated. I kind of think that this is a good thing. Interestingly, Dowth is oriented to the setting, rather than the rising, sun. Interesting. Spooky? That's what our guide tried to impose on us!
Yeah. Neolithic stuff is really cool.
Tomorrow we leave Ireland and head back into England. Well, Wales.
