Megaliths Galore

On Saturday I visited Brun a Boynne, the megalithic monuments in the Boyne Valley. There are three major megaliths, Newgrange, Knowth, and Dowth, and upwards of 30 smaller tombs many of which have not been excavated. Newgrange is the 'best' of the monuments, and is considered to be the best megalithic monument in western europe. It is a large hill (>200 tonnes of rock and dirt) that was built over 5000 years ago at a time when the inhabitants of Ireland had neither horses nor wheels, and much of the rock was brought from 40 or 80 Km away. It has one tunnel (that they know of) that leads to a cruciform chamber which was used for human remains, and probably had other ritual uses as well. The tunnel is perfectly aligned so that sunlight comes in at sunrise on the morning of the winter solstice. The chamber includes lots of megalithic art carved into the supporting stones which seems to have been done before they were put in place, and is a vaulted roof built without any mortar, so it's quite an architectural feat for any age. It was also designed with drainage so that not a drop of water has gotten in in 5000 years. (I'm not entirely sure how they know ''not a drop'', but that's what they tell tourists.) A limited number of tourists are allowed in each day, and they drive you in a little bus for one hour visits to the site that include 15 minutes inside the megalith in a group of 20 tourists. They do a simulation of the solstice for you too.

The limestone front of the monument:
The monument from down the hill:
We weren't allowed to take any pictures inside the monument, and I'm not entirely sure why because last time I checked flash photography wasn't harmful to stone carvings, but I suppose maybe it's so you actually listen to the talk, and so people aren't trying to linger and get that perfect picture with no other tourists in it. Here is a picture of some of the carvings on the curb stones that support / retain the hill:
After Newgrange I went on to Knowth which is even larger, has at least 2 tunnels, and has multiple satellite monuments as well. The tunnels there had been collapsed when a fort with a moat was built on top of the hill, so while they have been opened they're not safe enough for tourists to go in. The tunnels at Knowth are aligned to the rising and setting sun on the spring and fall equinoxes. It also has some early Christan small tunnels that were used for storage and hiding from the vikings, a sort of tree circle (there was a larger one at Newgrange but it wasn't restored) that was a holy site in between the megalith builders and the Christians, and some signs of other habitation. Dowth can't be visited except the outside, and then only if you have a car, so I didn't see it. But apparently it has a tunnel aligned to the setting sun on the winter solstice and another smaller tunnel or two as well.

Once again, I am impressed and mystified at the motivation and work that went into building these monuments, which are some of the earliest man made structures in the world (built before the pyramids in Egypt or Stonehenge.)

Yesterday I slept in and then went shopping downtown and met up with Eilish and Phil. When we were all shopped out, we rode the bus back to Phil's place and she made us a lovely dinner with ham, mashed potatoes, carrots and broccoli with creamy sauce, and (best of all) homemade apple pie!