Recent from talks
Creevykeel Court Tomb
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Creevykeel Court Tomb
Creevykeel Court Tomb (Irish: Tuama Cúirte na Craobhaí Caoile) is one of the finest examples of a court tomb remaining in Ireland. The monument is located beside the N15 Donegal Town to Sligo road, 50 metres north of Creevykeel cross-roads, close to the village of Cliffoney in the north of County Sligo. The original name for the Creevykeel (An Chraobhaigh Chaol) monument is Caiseal an Bhaoisgin, the Fort of Bhaoisgin, Tobar an Bhaoisgin being the name of the well near the cairn. A second megalithic monument existed 300 metres to the north, but it was demolished around 1890.
The building of the tomb dates back to the Neolithic Period, 4000–2500 BC, when waves of colonising farmers migrated to Ireland from the continent. The Creevykeel Court Tomb is one of five megalithic monuments in the area. Creevykeel has not been dated using modern scientific methods, and is estimated to date from around 3500 BC with a long span of use and re-use.
The monument consists of a long, trapezoid-shaped cairn of stones which measures 55.5 meters along its east - west axis, 25 meters at the wider eastern facade, and 10 meters wide at the western end or tail of the cairn. The stones used to construct the monument are a hard local sandstone with a bluish tint.
The cairn encloses an oval-shaped full court 15 by 9 meters with an entrance passage through the east side. The entrance to the main chamber is located at the centre of an imposing megalithic facade on the west side of the court. The chamber is made up of two large compartments divided by a pair of jambs, which presumably supported an inner lintel like those at Shawley and Croaghbeg in County Donegal in Ulster.
Evidence of large corbel slabs used for roofing the structure survives in the inner chamber. In the west end of cairn three subsidiary chambers were built into the body of the monument, which have been described as being small passage-graves. However they seem to date from a later neolithic addition to the original monument.
Creevykeel is widely considered to be one of the finest and best-preserved examples of an Irish court tomb.
The Creevykeel Court Tomb was excavated from 25 July to 4 September in 1935 by the fourth Harvard Archaeological Mission, an American collaboration with the Irish Free State Government, which were the first modern scientific excavations to take place in Ireland. The director of the excavation was Hugh Hencken, the Curator of European Archaeology at the Peabody Museum in Harvard. Twenty-seven workers were involved in the dig, many being local labourers hired under an innovative State employment scheme.
The cairn material was removed entirely, leaving the large megalithic boulders in their original positions. The cairn was replaced again after the excavation had been completed. The excavators found that the large structural chunks of sandstone were resting on the old ground surface, rather than being placed in sockets. In many cases the stones had sunk into the soil.
Hub AI
Creevykeel Court Tomb AI simulator
(@Creevykeel Court Tomb_simulator)
Creevykeel Court Tomb
Creevykeel Court Tomb (Irish: Tuama Cúirte na Craobhaí Caoile) is one of the finest examples of a court tomb remaining in Ireland. The monument is located beside the N15 Donegal Town to Sligo road, 50 metres north of Creevykeel cross-roads, close to the village of Cliffoney in the north of County Sligo. The original name for the Creevykeel (An Chraobhaigh Chaol) monument is Caiseal an Bhaoisgin, the Fort of Bhaoisgin, Tobar an Bhaoisgin being the name of the well near the cairn. A second megalithic monument existed 300 metres to the north, but it was demolished around 1890.
The building of the tomb dates back to the Neolithic Period, 4000–2500 BC, when waves of colonising farmers migrated to Ireland from the continent. The Creevykeel Court Tomb is one of five megalithic monuments in the area. Creevykeel has not been dated using modern scientific methods, and is estimated to date from around 3500 BC with a long span of use and re-use.
The monument consists of a long, trapezoid-shaped cairn of stones which measures 55.5 meters along its east - west axis, 25 meters at the wider eastern facade, and 10 meters wide at the western end or tail of the cairn. The stones used to construct the monument are a hard local sandstone with a bluish tint.
The cairn encloses an oval-shaped full court 15 by 9 meters with an entrance passage through the east side. The entrance to the main chamber is located at the centre of an imposing megalithic facade on the west side of the court. The chamber is made up of two large compartments divided by a pair of jambs, which presumably supported an inner lintel like those at Shawley and Croaghbeg in County Donegal in Ulster.
Evidence of large corbel slabs used for roofing the structure survives in the inner chamber. In the west end of cairn three subsidiary chambers were built into the body of the monument, which have been described as being small passage-graves. However they seem to date from a later neolithic addition to the original monument.
Creevykeel is widely considered to be one of the finest and best-preserved examples of an Irish court tomb.
The Creevykeel Court Tomb was excavated from 25 July to 4 September in 1935 by the fourth Harvard Archaeological Mission, an American collaboration with the Irish Free State Government, which were the first modern scientific excavations to take place in Ireland. The director of the excavation was Hugh Hencken, the Curator of European Archaeology at the Peabody Museum in Harvard. Twenty-seven workers were involved in the dig, many being local labourers hired under an innovative State employment scheme.
The cairn material was removed entirely, leaving the large megalithic boulders in their original positions. The cairn was replaced again after the excavation had been completed. The excavators found that the large structural chunks of sandstone were resting on the old ground surface, rather than being placed in sockets. In many cases the stones had sunk into the soil.
Recent media