Passage tombs in Ireland facts for kids
Passage tombs are amazing ancient stone buildings from the Neolithic period, also known as the New Stone Age. People built these special tombs in Ireland a very long time ago, from about 3750 BC to 2500 BC. That's over 5,000 years ago!
You can find passage tombs all over Ireland, but there are more of them in the northern part. Some of the most famous groups of these tombs are in places like Carrowmore and Carrowkeel in County Sligo, and Loughcrew and the Boyne Valley in County Meath.
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What Are Passage Tombs Like?
Passage tombs are a type of megalithic monument. This means they are made from very large stones. The name "passage tomb" was only created in the mid-1900s. Before that, people called them things like "chambered cairns" or "Danish mounds."
These tombs usually have a long, narrow passage that leads to a central room or "chamber." This chamber is where people were buried. The whole structure is often covered by a mound of earth and stones, called a cairn.
Different Kinds of Passage Tombs
Not all passage tombs are the same size or shape. Experts have grouped them into a few types:
- Small and Simple Tombs: These are often round and have a simple open design. You can see examples of these at Carrowmore in County Sligo.
- Medium-Sized Tombs: These are a bit bigger and have a cairn covering a burial chamber. The tombs at Loughcrew are good examples. They sometimes have cool abstract carvings, called petroglyphs, on their stones. Some of these tombs were also built to line up with the sun, like during the winter solstice. People buried in these tombs might have been cremated (burned) or had their unburnt bones placed there.
- Super Monuments: These are the biggest and most impressive passage tombs, like Newgrange in the Boyne Valley. They are built on a huge scale with amazing artwork. They use clever building methods, like corbelling, where stones are stacked to form a roof that gets narrower at the top. They have very long passages and sometimes even stones brought from far away places. Some of these large tombs have rooms shaped like a cross inside.
Tombs in Groups
Sometimes, you'll find many passage tombs built close together in a "cluster." Often, one tomb in the group is much bigger than the others, acting like a main or "focal" monument. This is true at Knowth and Carrowmore. These groups of tombs are often placed in special ways that connect with the landscape, like near lakes, rivers, or mountains. For example, at Carrowkeel, the tombs are in the Bricklieve Mountains.
One cool thing about Irish passage tombs is how long they were used. People continued to use them for over a thousand years! This is much longer than other types of monuments from the New Stone Age.
Things Found Inside (Grave Goods)
When archaeologists dig inside passage tombs, they often find special objects buried with the people. These are called "grave goods." They usually include:
- Pins made from bone or deer antlers.
- Carved and shiny stone pendants.
- Pieces of quartz, flint, or chert tools.
- Stone or chalk balls.
- A special kind of pottery called Carrowkeel ware.
Carrowkeel ware is named after the Carrowkeel site where it was first found. These pots are made of reddish clay and come in different sizes. They always have round bottoms and are often decorated with cool patterns made by stabbing and dragging a tool across the clay. Not many whole pots have been found, but some beautiful ones were discovered at the Mound of the Hostages passage tomb on the Hill of Tara in County Meath.
Sun Worship and Alignments
After digging and fixing up Newgrange, archaeologist Michael O'Kelly made an amazing discovery: the tomb is built so that the rising sun on the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice, shines directly down its long passage and lights up the main chamber.
This idea of tombs lining up with the sun has been suggested for other monuments too. You can see similar alignments at places like Maeshowe in Scotland, Loughcrew in County Meath, Knockroe in County Kilkenny, and Listoghil at Carrowmore in County Sligo. This suggests that the people who built these tombs might have had a special connection to the sun and its movements.
Connections with Other Countries
Irish passage tombs look similar to other ancient tombs found in places along the Atlantic coast, like Brittany in France, and parts of Wales and Scotland.
Scientists have studied ancient DNA from people buried in these Irish tombs. Their research suggests that these people were connected to early farming groups who moved to the Atlantic region about 6,000 years ago. These early farmers originally came from a place called Anatolia.
What's even more interesting is that the DNA shows family connections between people buried at different Irish sites like Carrowmore, Carrowkeel, and Newgrange. This means that the groups of people who used passage tombs were genetically different from other Neolithic people in Ireland. Researchers at Trinity College, Dublin think this might mean that a powerful, extended family group or "kin-group" had control over these important burial sites across many parts of Ireland for at least 500 years.
Tombs Still Waiting to Be Explored
Even though some famous Irish passage tombs have been dug up and sometimes rebuilt, many others are still untouched. Many mounds on hills and in lowlands might actually be passage tombs that haven't been explored yet. Some examples include Shee Mór in County Leitrim, Heapstown in County Sligo, and Croghaun in County Donegal.
Examples of Passage Tombs
