Newgrange (Ireland: SÃÆ'â € Å"BrÃÆ'º or BrÃÆ'º na Bóinne ) is a prehistoric monument in County Meath, Ireland, is located 8 kilometers (5.0 mi, mi) to the west of Drogheda on the north side of the Boyne River. Built during the Neolithic period, around 3200 BC, making it older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramid.
The site consists of large round mounds with deep stone corridors and cubicles. Human bones and grave goods may or pineapple victims are found in these rooms. This mound has a retaining wall on the front, most of which is made of white quartz sandstone, and it is surrounded by carved stones. Many larger stones than Newgrange are covered in megalithic art. The mound is also surrounded by a stone circle. Some of the materials that make up the monument come from as far away as the Mournes and Wicklow Mountains. There is no agreement on what the site is used, but it is believed that it has a religious meaning. The entrance is parallel to the rising sun at the winter solstice, when sunlight shines through the 'roof box' and floods the inner space. Some of the tombs of other parts of Ireland are parallel to solstices and equinoxes, and Cairn G in Carrowkeel has similar 'roof boxes'. Newgrange also shares many similarities with other Neolithic constructions in Western Europe, such as Maeshowe in Orkney, Scotland, and Bryn Celli Ddu in Wales. This is the most famous monument in the Neolithic BrÃÆ'º na BÃÆ'³inne complex, next to the grave of the same section of Knowth and Dowth, and thus is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site BrÃÆ'º na BÃÆ'³inne. Newgrange consists of about 200,000 tons of stone and other materials. The extent of 85 meters (279 feet) at its widest point.
After initial use, Newgrange was sealed for several millennia. It continues to be featured prominently in Irish mythology and folklore, supposedly the abode of the gods, in particular The Dagda and his son, Aengus. The first Antiquarians began their research in the seventeenth century, and archaeological excavations took place on the site in the following years. Archaeologist Michael J. O'Kelly led this most extensive and also reconstructed the front of the site in the 1970s, a controversial and controversial reconstruction. Newgrange is a popular tourist site and, according to archaeologist Colin Renfrew, is "undoubtedly considered by prehistory as Ireland's great national monument" and as one of Europe's most important megalithic structures.
Video Newgrange
Physical description
Mounds and tombs
The Newgrange monument consists primarily of large mounds, constructed of alternating layers of earth and rocks, with grass growing on top and a reconstructed facade of flat white quartz rocks sprinkled at intervals with large cobblestones covering a portion of the circumference. The mound is 76 meters (249Ã, ft) and 12 meters high (39Ã, ft), and covers 4,500 square meters (1.1 hectares) of land. Inside the mound is the cubicle, which can be accessed by the entrance on the southeast side of the monument. This section extends along 19 meters (60 feet), or about a third of the way to the center of the structure. At the end of the hall there are three smaller rooms from the larger living room with a tall dome roof. Each of the smaller rooms has a large flat stone "basin" where the bones of the dead may have been stored during prehistoric times. Whether the burial site is still unclear. The walls of this section consist of large stone slabs, twenty-two of them on the west side and twenty-first on the east side. They average 1 ½ meters tall; some decorated with carvings (as well as graffiti from the period after the rediscovery). The ceiling did not show any evidence of smoke.
Located around the mound it is a standing stone circle. The twelve stones stand out from the original possibility of thirty-five or so. Most archaeologists suggest that they were added later, during the Bronze Age, centuries after the original monument had been abandoned as a ritual center.
Art
Newgrange contains various examples of Neolithic stone art that is carved on stone surfaces. These engravings fall into ten categories, five of which are curved (circles, spirals, bows, serpentiniforms, and dot-in-circles) and the other five are straight lines (chevrons, lozenges, radials, parallel lines, and offsets). They are characterized by huge differences in style, the level of skill required to produce them, and how deeply their engravings are. One of the most prominent types of art in Newgrange is the triskele-like features found in the entrance stone. Its length is about three meters and 1.2 meters high (10 feet high and 4 feet high), and about five tons of weight. It has been described as "one of the most famous stones in all megalithic art treasures." Archaeologists believe that most of the carvings were made before the stones were erected, although the entrance stone was carved on them before they were placed next to them.
Various archaeologists have speculated on the meaning of the design, with some, like George Coffey (in the 1890s), believing that they are purely decorative, while others, such as Michael J. O'Kelly (who led 1962-1975 excavations on the site) , believes they have some sort of symbolic purpose, because some carvings have been in places that would not be visible, such as at the bottom of orthostatic plates below the soil surface. Extensive research on how art relates to alignment and astronomy at the Boyne Valley complex was conducted by Irish-American researcher Martin Brennan.
Maps Newgrange
History
The Neolithic people who built the monument were native farmers, planted crops and reared livestock like cattle in the area where they lived.
Construction and burial
The original complex of Newgrange was built between c. 3200 and 3100 BC. According to the carbon-14 date, it is about five hundred years older than the current form of Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, as well as preceding Greek Mycenaean Greek culture. Some place the construction period somewhat later, at 3000 to 2500 BC. Geological analysis shows that the thousands of pyramid-shaped pebbles, which together will weigh about 200,000 tons, are from the nearby river terrace of Boyne. There is a large pool in this area which is believed to be a site dug for gravel by Newgrange builders. Most of the 547 inner slabs, chambers, and outer kerbstones are gray. Some or all of them may have been taken from the site about 5 km away, from the rocky coast of Clogherhead, County Louth, about 20 km to the northeast. The facade and entrance are built with white quartz limestone from the Wicklow Mountains, about 50 km to the south; granodiorite grained dark round from the Morne Mountains, about 50 km to the north; gabbro dark cobbles from the Cooley Mountains; and stem the lana stone from the beach at Carlingford Lough. The stones may have been transported to Newgrange by sea and boarded the Boyne River by tying it to the bottom of the boat at low tide. None of the structural plates were excavated, as they showed signs of having weathered naturally, so they had to be collected and then transported, mostly uphill, to the Newgrange site. The granite basin found in the room also comes from Mournes.
Frank Mitchell suggested that the monument could be built within five years, based on its estimate of the possible number of local people during the Neolithic and the amount of time they could dedicate to building it rather than agriculture. This estimate, however, was criticized by Michael. J. O'Kelly and his archaeological team, who believe that it takes at least thirty years to build it.
Excavations have revealed the sediments of burning and unburned human bones in the aisle, indicating human bodies have been placed in them, some of which have been cremated. From examining unburned bones, it's proven to come from at least two separate individuals, but many of their skeletons are missing, and what's left has been scattered about that part. Various graves were kept beside the corpse in the hallway. Excavations that occurred in the late 1960s and early 1970s revealed seven 'marbles', four pendants, two beads, flint flint used, chisel bones, and fragments of pins and bone points. Many artifacts have been found in the hallways of previous centuries by visiting antiquarians and tourists alike, although most of these objects have been removed and lost or stored in private collections. Nevertheless, it is sometimes noted and believed that the grave goods originating from Newgrange are typical of the collection of Neolithic Irish grave graves. The remains of animals have also been found in structures, especially those consisting of mountain rabbits, rabbits, and dogs, but also from bats, sheep, goats, cows, thrush songs, and more rarely, mollusks and frogs. Most of these animals will enter and die in the room for centuries or even thousands of years after it was built: for example, new rabbits were introduced to Ireland in the 13th century.
During most of the Neolithic period, the Newgrange area continues to be the focus of some ceremonial activities. In the Final Neolithic, it appears that Newgrange is no longer used by locals, who have left no artifacts in the structure or buried their corpses there. As archaeologist Michael J. O'Kelly observes, "in 2000 [BC], Newgrange was in a period of decay and squatters living around the collapsing edges". These people are Beaker traders, who have been imported from mainland Europe, and make Beaker-style pottery locally. A large wooden circle (or henge) is built to the southeast of the main mound and the smaller wooden circle to the west. The east wooden circle consists of five rows of concentric holes. The outer row contains wooden columns. The next row of holes has a layer of clay and is used to burn animal remains. Three rows in the hole were dug to receive animal remains. Inside the circle were peg and peg holes associated with Beaker pottery and rock shale. The western wooden circle consists of two concentric rows of parallel post holes and holes defining a 20-meter circle (66Ã, ft) in diameter. A concentric clay mound is built around the southern and western side of the mound that covers a structure consisting of two parallel lines of heading and a partially burned trench. A large circle of boulders stands freely around the Newgrange mound. Near the entrance, seventeen stoves were used to light a fire. This structure in Newgrange is generally contemporary with a number of known henges from Boyne Valley, on New Sites A, Newgrange O Sites, Dowth Henge, and Monknewtown Henge.
This site seems to continue to have ritual meaning to the Iron Age. Among the various objects that were then stored around the mound were two pendants made of golden Roman coins 320-337 AD (now in the National Museum of Ireland) and Roman gold jewelry including two bracelets, two finger rings, and a necklace, now in a collection of British Museum.
Destination
There are various debates about the original purpose. Many archaeologists believe that the monument has a religious meaning or something, either as a place of worship for the "cult of the dead" or for astronomical faith. Archaeologist Michael J. O'Kelly, who led the excavations of 1962-1975 at the site, believes that the monument should be seen in connection with the adjacent Embassies and Dases, and that the Newgrange building "can not be considered as an expression of some kind of force or strong motivation, taken to the extremes of the aggrandizement at these three monuments, the megalithic religious cathedral. "O'Kelly believes that Newgrange, along with hundreds of other tomb parts built in Ireland during the Neolithic, show religious proofs that honor the dead as one of its core principles. He believed that this "cult of the dead" was only a special form of European Neolithic religion, and that other megalithic monuments showed evidence for different, sun-oriented religious beliefs rather than ancestral orientations.
Studies in other areas of expertise offer alternative interpretations of possible functions, however, that are primarily centered on astronomy, engineering, geometry, and mythology associated with the Boyne monument. It is thought that the sun forms an important part of the religious beliefs of the Neolithic people who built it. One idea was that the room was designed to capture ritual sunlight on the shortest day of the year, Winter Solstice, when the room was flooded with sunlight, which probably indicated that the days would begin to grow even longer. This view is reinforced by the discovery of alignments in Knowth, Dowth, and Lough Crew Cairns that lead to the interpretation of this monument as a calendar or astronomical device.
Formerly, the mound of Newgrange was surrounded by an outer circle of large boulders standing, in which twelve of the possible thirty-seven remained. Evidence from carbon dating suggests that the stone circle surrounding Newgrange may not be contemporaneous with the monument, but it was placed there some 1,000 years later in the Bronze Age. This view is disputed and related to the carbon dating of the standing stone arrangement that intersects the next post-wood circle, the theory, that the stone can be moved and then, rearranged in its original position. This study implies the continuity of Newgrange's use for over a thousand years; with partial remains found only from five individuals, some questioning the tomb theory for its purpose.
Once a year, in Winter Solstice, the sun rises directly along the long hall, illuminating the interior and revealing the carvings inside, especially the three spirals on the front wall of the room. This illumination lasts for approximately 17 minutes. Michael J. O'Kelly was the first person in modern times to observe this event on December 21, 1967. Sunlight enters the hall through a specially created opening, known as a roof box, just above the main entrance. Despite the unusual sun's alignment among the cemeteries, Newgrange is one of the few that features additional roofing. (Cairn G at Carrowkeel Megalithic Cemetery is another, and it has been suggested that one can be found at Bryn Celli Ddu.) The alignment is such that even though the roof box is above the entrance hallway, the light touches the floor of the inner chamber. Today the first light enters about four minutes after sunrise, but the calculations based on Earth's precession show that 5,000 years ago, the first light will enter just at sunrise. The alignment of the sun at Newgrange is very precise compared to similar phenomena in the graves of other parts such as Dowth or Maes Howe on the Orkney Islands, off the coast of Scotland.
Invention, extracting and recovery
Mythology and folklore during the Middle Ages and Early Modern period
During the medieval period, Newgrange and BrẠna BÃÆ'³inne Neolithic wider complex acquired various attributes in local folklore, which are often associated with figures from broader Irish mythology. The BrÃÆ'º monuments are considered by some to be supernatural dwellings of Tuatha De Danann, while others consider them to be burial mounds of ancient Tara kings. Among those who believe in folkloric tales linking BrÃÆ'ºº to Tuatha De Danann, it is usually assumed that they are the most powerful residence of the Tuatha, in particular The Dagda, his wife Boann, and his son, Oengus. According to the 11th century Book of Lecan , Dagda has built BrÃÆ'º for his family's use, while the 12th-century Book of Leinster explains how Oengus deceived his father to give him the title BrÃÆ'ºº for for ever. Another text, The Pursuit of Diarmaid and Grainne also implies that Oengus has BrÃÆ'º, when he states how he brought his friend Diarmaid to it.
Sometime after 1142 the structure became part of a remote farmland owned by the Cistercian Monastery of Mellifont. This farm is referred to as 'granges'. Newgrange is not mentioned in any of the early twelfth and thirteenth-century charts, but an Inspeximus given by Edward III in 1348 included Nova Grangia between the demesne lands of the monastery.
On July 23, 1539, after the Dissolution of the Convent by Henry VIII, Mellifont Abbey and his demesnes became the home of a castle of an English soldier, Edward Moore, the ancestor of Earls of Drogheda.
On August 14, 1699, Alice Moore, Countess Dowager of Drogheda, rented Newgrange demographic to a Williamite settler, Charles Campbell, for 99 years.
Antiquarianism during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
In 1699, a local landowner, Charles Campbell, ordered some of his farm workers to dig a section of Newgrange, which then had the appearance of a large mound of earth, so that he could collect stones from it. The workers soon found their way into the tomb inside the mound, and a Welsh spokesman named Edward Lhwyd, who lived in the area, was alerted and interested in the monument. He wrote a report on his mound and tomb, describing what he saw as a "barbarian statue" and noted that animal bones, beads, and pieces of glass had been found in them (modern archaeologists speculate that the latter two are in fact polished pottery beads which later, have been found on the site and it is a common feature of the Neolithic tomb). Shortly thereafter, another antique visitor, Sir Thomas Molyneaux, professor at Dublin University, also came to the site. He spoke with Charles Campbell, who told him that he had found the remains of two human corpses in the tomb, one (who was a man), in one of the water tanks, and the other along the aisle, something not recorded by Lhwyd. Furthermore, Newgrange is visited by a number of antiquarians, who often make their own measurements on the site and make their own observations, which are often published in various antique journals; this includes figures such as Sir William Wilde, Thomas Pownall, Thomas Wright, John O'Donovan, George Petrie, and James Ferguson.
These antiquarians often fabricated their own theories about the origin of Newgrange, many of which have since been proven wrong. Thomas Pownall conducted a very detailed survey of New Grange in 1769, which counted all the rocks and also recorded some carvings on the stone and asserted that the mound was originally taller and many of the stones on it had been removed. , a theory that has been proven untrue by archaeological research. The majority of these antiquarians also refuse to believe that it was an ancient Irish native who built the monument, with many believing that it had been built in the early medieval period by invading the Vikings, while others speculated that it had been built by ancient people. Egypt, ancient India, or Phoenician.
Modern conservation, archaeological investigation, and reconstruction
At one time in the early 1800s the folly was built a few meters behind Newgrange. Folly, with two round windows, made of stone taken from Newgrange. In 1882, under the Old Monument Protection Act, Newgrange and the closest monuments of Knowth and Dowth were taken under the control of the state (Great Britain and Ireland, as it was known then), and they were placed under responsibility. Council of Public Works. In 1890, under the leadership of Thomas Newenham Deane, the council began a monument conservation project, which had been damaged through general damage during the previous three millennia as well as increased vandalism caused by visitors, some of whom had written names on stone. In the ensuing decades, archaeologists excavated at the site, discovered more about its function and how it was built; However, even then, it is still mistaken for archaeologists to believe it was built during the Bronze Age rather than during the earlier Neolithic period. In the 1950s, electric lighting was installed in the hallway to allow visitors to see more clearly, while complete archaeological excavations were conducted from 1962 to 1975, excavation reports written by Michael J. O'Kelly and published in 1982 by the Thames and Hudson as Newgrange: Archeology, Art, and Legend .
After O'Kelly excavations, further restoration and reconstruction were performed on site. Based on the position of the cobblestone, and after experimenting, O'Kelly concluded that they had created a retaining wall, but fell off the surface of the mound. As part of the restoration, the walls were 'rebuilt' and the cobblestones were fixed into a vertical-reinforced concrete wall that surrounded the front of the mound. This work is controversial among the archaeological community. P. R. Griot described the monument as "a cream cheese cake with dried dried raisins." Neil Oliver described the reconstruction as "somewhat brutal, slightly exaggerated, kind of like Stalin doing the Stone Age". The criticism of the new wall indicates that the technology did not exist when the mound was made to repair the retaining wall at this angle. Another theory is that some, or all, of the white quartz limestone has formed a plaza on the ground at the entrance. This theory is preferred near Knowth, where the restoration puts quartz rocks as an "apron" in front of the entrance to a large mound.
The dark stone walls that go inside on each side of the entrance are not original, nor is it intended to show the original appearance of Newgrange, but are designed solely to facilitate visitor access. The visitor's guide book to the site, however, has a reconstructed image depicting the Neolithic population using Newgrange that shows the modern entrance as if it were part of Newgrange's original appearance.
Location and access
Newgrange is located 8.4 kilometers (5.2 miles) west of Drogheda in County Meath. The interpretive center is located on the south bank of the river and Newgrange is located on the north side of the river. Access only from the interpretive center.
Access to Newgrange only with guided tours. The tour begins at the BrÃÆ'º na BÃÆ'³inne Visitor Center from which visitors are taken to the site in groups. Current visitors to Newgrange are treated to guided tours and reenactment of the Winter Solstice experience through the use of high powered electric lights located inside the tomb. The highlight of the Newgrange tour resulted in every visitor standing in a tomb where the tour guide then turned off the lights, and then turned on the one that simulates sunlight that would appear on the winter solstice.
To experience this phenomenon in the morning at Winter Solstice from within Newgrange, visitors of the Bru Na BÃÆ'³inne Visitor Center must enter the annual lottery at the center. Of the thousands who enter, twenty are chosen each year. The winner is allowed to bring one guest. The winners are divided into groups of ten and taken on five days around the solstice in December when the sunlight can enter the room, if weather permits.
References
External links
- Official website
- Information about Newgrange by Meath Tours
- the tomb of the Irish and other Neolithic monuments
- 101 Facts About Newgrange
- Newgrange.eu
- Windows Media Recording from Winter Solstice 2007
- Short Video by National Geographic on Newgrange.
- MegalithicIreland.com
- BrÃÆ'º na BÃÆ'³inne in myth and folklore
- Newgrange winter solstice simulation in 3D
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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