On Tuesday we took a tour bus out to the megalithic sites at Newgrange and Knowth. Steve and I were expecting only to have time to see one of the sites but were pleasantly surprised to find out that we could see both. We went to Knowth first. Our guide explained that the site had been used by four groups: around 3000-2000 BC, during the Iron Age (around early centuries A.D), during the Early Christian period (8-12th century), and during the Norman era (12-14th century). During the Norman period, the land was used by a monastery that farmed 35,000 acres around Knowth. The Normans also built tunnels through the mounds and M and I got to climb through one of the tunnels.
After Knowth, we went to Newgrange.
Newgrange looks much different than Knowth, in that most of the site is one large monument, rather than many smaller ones at Knowth, and is older (5000 years old). The guide described the work to build Newgrange is thought to have taken 80 years, at a time when people lived only about 30 years, and that the builders dragged the large rocks along the river and then 4km (2.5 miles) uphill to the site. It took 80 workers 4 days to move one of the rocks up to the site! There is a single path into the monument, which allows sunlight to enter for just 17 minutes a day and only on the days around the winter solstice. Our guide used electric lights to demonstrate what the light would look like at the solstice. There is a lottery to pick people who get to bring a guest and come see the monument on one of the days near the solstice. Steve and I each filled out a lottery ticket, but with 50 winners out of 30,000 entrants each year, we aren't holding our breath.Click here to view these pictures larger
We found out that the Tower Museum has an exhibit on megalithics in Northern Ireland! I think we'll try to get there this weekend.
No comments:
Post a Comment