Case Studies
For the purposes of this study two megalithic tombs were
surveyed. These are situated on opposite sides of Cleggan Bay and consist of a court
tomb as well as an unclassified example. Both are located very close to the sea
and at a low altitude. These particularities were to be investigated. In
addition, the small size of the court tomb seemed peculiar.
It was found, that both sites seemed aligned to each other and appeared to be in relationship with the sea, as well as close to fertile pasture. This would imply the usage by farming communities, which also utilised the seashore. Due to the proximity to the shoreline of most megalithic tombs of the grid, it can be suggested that the sea played a major role in Neolithic life for communications as well as for ritual purposes involving the tombs. In addition, it may still have been utilised as a supplementary food source. Knockbrack Unclassified tomb from South
Cleggan Court Tomb from North
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The Neolithic Period in Ireland
The first sedentary inhabitants in Ireland were the farmers of the New Stone Age, who settled here from circa 4000 BC. There is evidence of cereal pollen from different areas of the country of similar date. Domesticated animals as well as new artefact types are also part of this transition (Whitehouse, et al., 2010). However, cattle bones from Ferriter’s Cove, Co. Kerry, dated to 4500-4200 BC hint at an earlier progression from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic (Woodman, Anderson, & Finlay, 2000). Polished stone axes were used to remove the woodland cover during the main ‘Landnam phase’ of the Neolithic period. At the same time the first monuments for communal burial emerge: megalithic tombs. These are a phenomenon of the European Atlantic coast. Five general varieties are known form the Irish Neolithic, as outlined above (Halpin & Newman, 2006). In addition, field patterns, walls and house sites are known from the New Stone Age, from sites such as the Céide fields, Co. Mayo (O'Sullivan & Breen, 2007). Possibly the first megalithic structures in Ireland are court tombs, dating back to about 4000 BC, in some cases (Halpin & Newman, 2006). These display a so called forecourt leading to a burial gallery and are covered by a long trapezoidal cairn. Their distribution in Ireland is predominantly northerly. Five different forms of court tomb are distinguished, namely: open, central, full, dual and transeptal court tombs (Waddell, 2010). Portal tombs have the shape of a doorway and are composed of two orthostats, overlain by a large capstone and supported by a smaller backstone. Thus the monument descends from the entrance to the back. They usually contain one rectangular chamber. Portal tombs usually appear in close vicinity of court tombs; both are associated with farming. They occur in the north as well as the south-east of this island. Passage tombs appear as circular tumuli, surrounded by kerbstones and covering a passage which leads to burial chambers. These sometimes appear in the form of summit cairns. Linkardstown cists are mainly a phenomenon of Munster. Wedge tombs were constructed from the later phase of the Neolithic into the early Bronze Age (c. 2300-2000 BC). These are the most frequently occurring megalithic tombs in Ireland, located in the north, west and south-west. They display a wedge-shaped gallery, which is wider and larger at the front and faces west (Gosling, 1993; Halpin & Newman, 2006).
The study area in north-western County Galway provided proof
for Neolithic farming activity, through pollen analysis at Lough Sheeauns, from
about 4000 BC, lasting for circa 200
years (Molloy & O'Connell, 1988). This location is
rich in evidence such as house sites and pre-bog field systems, in addition to
megalithic tombs: court tombs, portal tombs and wedge tombs are present,
however, unclassified tombs outnumber the former types (Gosling,
1993).
Gibbons and Higgins (1988) explain that the
megalithic tombs of Connemara are clustered within the fertile valleys of
north-western Connemara. This arrangement largely corresponds to the presence
of stretches of glacial drift in addition to alkaline rock varieties. The
authors suggest that these locations provided the most fertile soils. They
furthermore observed that the unclassified megaliths are generally of a basic
format: “a small, quite simple chambered tomb” with varying shapes (Gibbons & Higgins, 1988, p.
64).
They also outline the characteristics that all four varieties of tomb share: sited
on low ground (usually under 91.44 m) and near a water body and close to
metamorphosed limestone. They conclude from their existing data, that the
settlement was concentrated as well as scattered, with groupings of sites
around Ballynew and Streamstown. For north as well as central Connemara they
suggest substantial Neolithic habitation within the mountain glens. Lastly they
establish that the plainness as well as the diversity of these monuments in
Connemara, as well as their grouping, indicate that they constitute “…a variety of indigenous responses to the
idea of building a ‘house for the dead’…”
(Gibbons & Higgins, 1988, p. 65).
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Ballynew Portal Tomb
There is a wealth of meglithic tombs within the area, comprising court, portal, wedge and unclassifie tombs however, most of them are in poor condition, as can be seen in the example here. Two sites, which are relatively well preserved were selected as case studies.