Island Wedge Tomb facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Island Wedge Tomb |
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| Native name Irish: Tuama Dingeach an Oileáin |
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Plan of Island Wedge Tomb
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| Type | wedge-shaped gallery grave |
| Location | Island, Mallow, County Cork, Ireland |
| Built | c. 2500 BC |
| Official name: Island Wedge Tomb | |
| Reference no. | 502 |
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The Island Wedge Tomb is a very old burial place. It is a special type of tomb called a wedge-shaped gallery grave. This ancient site is also a National Monument in Ireland. You can find it in County Cork, southeast of a town called Mallow.
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Where is This Ancient Tomb?
The Island Wedge Tomb is located in a place called Island. It is about 9.3 kilometers (5.8 miles) southeast of Mallow.
Who Built the Island Wedge Tomb?
People built wedge tombs like this one a very long time ago. This was during the late Neolithic (New Stone Age) and early Bronze Age. This means it was built around 2500 to 2000 BC. That's over 4,000 years ago!
Scientists used a method called Carbon-14 dating. This showed that people were active at the tomb between 1412 and 1308 BC. It suggests the main parts of the tomb were built in the Early Bronze Age. Later, some improvements were made.
What Was Found Inside?
When archaeologists dug up the tomb in 1957, they found some interesting things. They found evidence of cremated burials. This means human remains were burned before being placed in the tomb.
They also found tools made from flint. Flint is a hard stone used to make sharp tools in ancient times. Some of these tools were scrapers. A spindle whorl was also found. This is a small disc used for spinning thread. Two glass beads were discovered too.
Archaeologists found three groups of cremated bones in the main chamber. Two of these groups were too small to study much. But the third group was larger. It was found in a pit at the back of the tomb. This bone likely belonged to a woman who was about 60 to 70 years old.
The tomb was carefully dug up and partly fixed in 1957. More cremated bones were found near the end of the tomb's main passage during this work.
What Does the Tomb Look Like?
The main part of the Island Wedge Tomb is called a gallery. It faces from the southwest to the northeast. This gallery is split into two sections. One part is a small entrance area called a portico. The other is the main chamber.
The whole tomb is surrounded by a U-shaped outer wall. This wall is inside an oval-shaped pile of stones called a cairn. The cairn measures about 11.5 meters (37.7 feet) long and 9.7 meters (31.8 feet) wide. The tomb has double walls. Its entrance is marked by two large standing stones called orthostats.
