By Orla O’ Connor and Marina Ancos Question: Discuss and Explain the Development of Megalithic tombs building within the

context of the Wedge Shape Gallery Grave at Lough Gur

Who were the Stone Age people? They first came to Ireland around 7000 B.C. They travel around hunting and fishing animals

and gathering wild foods. They wore clothes made of animal skins. They farmed and cultivate

the land for food, and build permanent dwellings in which to live, and graves in which they

buried the dead. Some of these structures still remain in the form of the passage graves.

At first they lived mainly along the coast of Ireland or near rivers because

they were hunters. They mainly ate berries, fruit, and wild animals and

moved from place to place. From about 3500 BC the Stone Age people

began to clear away forests to make farmland.

The Stone Age went on for a very long time and many changes took place. We therefore call the

Stone Age people by different names depending on when they lived during this long period of time.

o The earliest part of the Stone Age is called the Paleolithic

o The middle part of the Stone Age it is called the Mesolithic

o The end of the Stone Age is called the Neolithic

Megalithic tombs 1. Court-tombs 2. Portal-tombs 3. Passage- tombs

4. Wedge-tombs

1. Court tomb They consisted of a segmented stone

chamber covered by an earthen

mound, with an entrance courtyard

that almost invariably faces east.

2. Portal Tombs They consist of three or more vertical stones on top

of which are perched one or two huge capstones.

The capstones always lean down towards one side,

leaving a large opening at the high end.

Many of them have collapsed.

The best examples are to be found in the

Carlingford Lough area of counties down and Louth.

3. Passage Tombs They were built by later Neolithic settlers, probably from

western France, and tend to be architecturally more

adventurous than court or portal tombs.

The passage is made from large vertical stones with flat

stones laid across them and then covered in soil.

The roof of the central chamber tapers in a cone shape and

there can be other chambers leading off it.

The most celebrated example is Newgrange, county Meath

(see below). Perhaps the most interesting feature of

passage tombs is their art. Stones both inside and outside

them are decorated with swirls, chevrons, eye-motifs etc.

4. Wedge Tombs The Burren is one of the richest areas in Ireland

for wedge tombs.

There are around 70 megalithic tombs

The wedge tomb is the most common type of

megalith

There are many more wedge tombs around the Burren including those at Cappaghkennedy, Poulaphuca, lissylisheen and believed to be the finest example at Derrynavahag.

1. Court Tombs

2. Portal Tombs

3. Passage Tombs

4. Wedge tombs

Lough Gur Archaeology & History Lough Gur has been a place of continuous habitation for at least 5,500 years since the arrival of the Neolithic people and represents in

microcosm of each of the different ages throughout Irish History.

Lough Gur/Stone Age

Megalithic Tomb Locally known as “The Giants Grave”.

It is a wedge shape gallery and dates to circa 2,500 B.C

This includes passage tombs, portal dolmens and court cairns.

There are 2 chambers

1. Main chamber

2. Porticoe

Main Chamber- Is covered with four cap stones. The finds consisted of human bones (both

inhumed and cremated) cattle and pig bones, fragments of pottery including food vessels and some

flints. A remarkable ox burial was found just outside the main chamber. It has been suggested that it

represents a votive offering. It was one used as a home/ Shelter for an elderly impoverished woman.

Porticoe- is a porch leading to the entrance of the tomb, with a roof structure over a walkway,

supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used and has influenced many

cultures, including most Western cultures.

1. Circles 2. Spirals 3. Serpentiform 5. Dot in circle

4. Arcs or crescents 1. Chevrons or zigzags

2. Lozenges

3. Star shape or radial (with central dot)

4. Parallel lines

5. Offset or comb device

The Bronze Age

By: Klaudia , Patrycja & Caitlin

Discuss, explain and outline the Bronze Age with particular reference to the grange, stone circle, habitation sites and the Lough Gur shield.

Q. The beginning of the Bronze Age?

The Bronze Age started 2200BC and ended

500BC.

Q. How bronze was made?

Bronze was made by mixing two materials tin in 10% and

copper in 90%.

Q. Who discovered Bronze?

About 5,500 years ago a metalworker in Western

Asia discovered that a mixture of tin and copper

made a material much more harder than copper

alone.

Q. How bronze age people were called ?

Another name for the Bronze Age people especially in

Europe was ‘the beaker people’ named after their highly

decorated drinking vessels.

Q. How were Bronze Products made ?

Bronze Products were made by pouring melted bronze

into a hollowed-out stone.

Q. What decorative techniques were used during the

Bronze age ?

A number of decorative techniques were used to create

the jewellery, including repoussé and incision.

The Repousse Technique.

The repoussé technique is a method of hammering the designs out from the reverse side of the sheet of gold.

Q. What jewellery was made?

The Gold Lunula, were the most symmetrically decorated and expertly

crafted.

Torcs are necklace formed by twisting lengths of gold. This twisting technique

was also used to create bracelets and earrings.

Gorgets would have been fastened around the neck by a cord which was

linked to the ends of the collar.

Q. What was the function of the Jewellery ?

Gold Lunula would have been worn as a necklace on special occasions and was a symbol.

Torcs: Bronze age people wore torc’s around the neck as a form of ceremonial decoration.

Gorgets they would of been fastened around the neck by a cord which was linked to the ends of the collar.

Q. How did they make the Jewellery ?

The Gold Lunula was made with a sheet of gold hammered flat and then cut into the

crescent moon shape. The ends of the Lunula were twisted.

Torcs were created by evenly twisting a square bar of gold.

Gorget is constructed from five parts the crescent shape in the middle attached to two

double discs at each end. The ends of the crescent are pushed through a slot in the

lower disc and stitched together.

Q. What are the Stone Circles?

A stone circle is a monument of standing stones arranged in a circle.

The size and number of stones varies from example to example, and the circle shape can be

an ellipse.

The stone circles are the most common field monuments from the Bronze Age.

Q. Where they can be found?

The largest stone circles in Ireland can be found at Lough Gur in County Limerick. They can also be found in County Cork in Ireland, in Britain, Scotland and the Atlantic

fringe of Europe.

Q. When they were built?

The stone circles at Lough Gur in County Limerick was built over

4500 years ago.

Q. Why were the stone circles built?

The stone circles were built for a ritual or religious purpose. It is evident by looking at stone circles and their

layout, that they are magical and ceremonial construction.

On the 21st of June the sun rises between two stone that are directly opposite the entrance of the stone circle

marking the mid-summer solstice or the longest day of the year.

This shows that they were some sort of astronomical observatories and that they had a understanding of

astronomy.

Iron age – Early Christian Period 500BC – 500AD

Created By. . . . Heather Mc Auliffe and Adrian Wozniak

What was life like during the Iron Age?

We call the Iron Age the time when people began to use iron

tools and weapons. This began in about 500 BC. Iron tools were

much stronger than bronze. The people who first used iron tools

are known as the Celts.

The Celts were a group of people from the mainland of Europe.

It is not exactly clear when the Celts first came to Ireland as

they did not leave written records, however many historians

think they came sometime about 300 BC. They settled all

around the part of the world that we now call Europe. From

about 450 BC to 250 BC, the Celts were the most powerful

group in the area of Europe.

The Celts built large earthen banks or

stone walls around their farms to

protect themselves and their animals.

These walls were called raths or duns.

The more important families had

several circular banks protecting their

homes and sometimes they built their

homes on high ground, which were

called hill forts.

Some families built forts surrounded

by stone walls or banks of earth on

headlands looking out to sea.

Examples of Iron Age Settlements

Hill Forts

Hill forts are what archaeologists

call single households, elite

residences, whole villages, or urban

settlements built on the tops of hills

and/or with defensive structures

such as enclosures, moats, or

ramparts--not all "hill forts" were

built on hills.

Although best known in Europe,

similar structures are found

throughout the world and

throughout time, as you might

imagine, since we humans are at

times a fearful, violent race.

Crannogs

A crannog is typically an ancient Irish dwelling. (The

word crann means tree) this is due to the large

amount of timber used in the construction of these

sites.

Having chosen an appropriate site, the builders of

crannogs made the inland by laying down layers of

various materials of which brush weed and peat were

the most common, however animal bones, logs, stones,

straw rushes and branches were also used.

Drenches were made around these settlements for

protection

The unique nature of these sites and their isolation

from farmland draws attention towards their

economy followed by the inhabitants.

Settlements and Architecture of Iron Age

Who were the iron age People?

people

Settlements Continued. . .

This hill is located to the east of the lake and Knockadoon. Two

stone ring-forts (Cashel’s), along with associated hut sites, were

discovered here. Occupation has been dated to the 8th-11th

centuries AD. House foundations were discovered both within

and outside the forts. Bronze, iron, and stone tools were

uncovered, along with some jewelry and bone implements.

Carraig Aille I is a dry-stone wall encloses an oval area,

42.6x32m. The entrance looks towards the east; recesses in the

entryway suggest that a wooden door was present. Steps leading

up to the top of the wall were found at two points within the

enclosure, and a parapet-walk would have been present.

Carraig Aille II has an overall diameter of 47m and a paved

pathway leads from the entrance in the east through the interior

of the fort towards where small huts had been built on the

western side. Steps leading up to the parapet-walk were found at

six points along the rampart.. It appears that defensive structures

became less vital as time went on, and the upper part of the wall

on the north side of the fort was torn down, possibly to facilitate

interaction between the Cashel and the houses outside of it.

Carraig Aille Hill

Christianity first came to Ireland in

the fifth century, around 431 AD

Most people in Ireland at that time

believed in pagan gods.

Only a few pieces of evidence

survive from this period so it is not

clear who the first Christians in

Ireland were.

Some historians believe that the

first Christians in Ireland were

slaves captured in England and

taken to Ireland.

The first known settlement in Ireland began around

8000 BC, when hunter-gatherers arrived from

continental Europe, probably via a land bridge.

Few archaeological traces remain of this group, but

their descendants and later Neolithic arrivals,

particularly from the Iberian Peninsula, were

responsible for major Neolithic sites such as

Newgrange.

On the arrival of Saint Patrick and other Christian

missionaries in the early to mid-5th century AD,

Christianity began to subsume the indigenous Celtic

religion, a process that was completed by the year

600.

Settlements and architecture of early Christian period

Examples of early Christian

period settlements

The Earliest Monasteries in Ireland were

probably made from wood and therefore

there is little evidence of their existence

today.

However a written history of the time

and archaeological evidence has given us

some indication of what life was like in

these monasteries.

Monasteries varied greatly in size – a

small dwelling accommodating only a

hermit, or in the case of communities

anything from a single building housing

only a one senior and two or three junior

monks or nuns, to vast complexes and

estates housing tens or hundreds.

The monks on Sceilg Mhicil lived

in beehive huts.

These huts were weather proof as

the stones fitted perfectly on top

of each other

– The rounded shape also meant

that the rain ran off or flow off

the roof and walls.

The small opening for the door

allowed the least amount of wind

into the hut.

Monasteries

Bee Hive Huts

Who were the Early Christian people?

What was Art like during the Iron Age/Early Christian Period?

Gold Torcs

Brooch

Chalice

The Broighter Collar is a fine example of

the La Tene stylein metalworking that

shows clearly the design skill and extent of

detail that La Tene culture represents.

Dating from 1st Century BC, the Broighter

Collar was found in Broighter, Co. Derry.

This piece is exquisitely made and consists

of two gold co-joined half loops with

distinctive fasteners, the piece having a

diameter of 19.5cm in total.

The technique involved in making the

collar begins with 2 ribbons of sheet gold,

onto which a design is made along the

centre using the repoussé technique.

The torc was a sign of nobility and high

social status and possibly a divine

attribute, since some depictions of

Celtic gods wear one or more torcs.

The design has been applied in three

ways, the most common is where the

classical designs of generic plants has

been revealed by beating back the

surrounding gold. Other areas have

additional pieces attached and the

background has been incised with

curves to add to the decoration.

Brooch also known in ancient times as

a fibula is a decorative jewellery item

designed to be attached to garments.

It is usually made of metal, often silver

or gold but sometimes bronze or some

other material.

Brooches are frequently decorated

with enamel or with gemstones and

may be solely for ornament or

sometimes serve a practical function as

a fastening, perhaps for a cloak.

The earliest known brooches are from

the Bronze Age.

The chalice plays a central role in Christianity, as it

serves as the vessel for the liquid which either

represents, or is viewed literally as, the blood of

Christ.

A chalice has therefore been used in Christian

services since the early Church, and in many periods

of history religious chalices were intricately

decorated, and often made of precious materials and

encrusted with gems.

Because of its central place in the Mass, as well as

its material beauty, the Christian chalice is usually

treated with a great deal of respect and reverence.

Iron Age/Celtic

Art

Broighter Collar

early Christian

Art