Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Newgrange
This grassy mound atop a hill is 250 feet across and 40 feet high. Dating from 3200 B.C. ,
it's 500 years older than the pyramids at Giza. The base of the mound is ringed by dozens
of “kerbstones,” each about nine feet long and weighing five tons.
The entrance facade is a mosaic of white quartz and dark granite. This is a reconstruc-
tion done in the 1970s, and not every archaeologist agrees it originally looked like this.
Above the doorway is a square window called the roofbox, which played a key role (as
we'llsee).Infrontofthedoorwayliesthemostfamousofthekerbstones,the10-by4-foot
entrance stone. Its left half is carved with three mysterious spirals, which have become a
kind of poster child for prehistoric art.
Most of Newgrange's kerbstones have designs carved into them. This was done with
super-hard flint tools; the Neolithic (“New Stone Age”) people had not mastered metal.
The stones feature common Neolithic motifs: not people or animals, but geometric
shapes—spirals, crosshatches, bull's-eyes, and chevrons. (For more information on prehis-
toric art, see here . )
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