In the Burren in County Clare, Ireland, there is a peculiarly huge dolmen or doorway tomb called Poulnabrone. It is a Neolithic structure that belongs to the Neolithic era, most likely between 4200 BC and 2900 BC, and occupies one of the highest and most isolated locations in the area. It is made up of three upright portal stones that support a large horizontal capstone. Out of the approximately 172 dolmens in Ireland, it is the most well-known and frequently captured in photographs. Limestone that was deposited approximately 350 million years ago is what created the karst environment. Neolithic farmers constructed the dolmen, choosing the site either for ritual purposes, as a territory marker or as a spot for group burial. The actual structure would have been painted with soil, and its flagstone would have been topped by a cairn; all that is now visible is its naked stone skeleton. Around 33 human remains, including those of adults, children, and an infant from the much later Bronze Age, were discovered buried below the site when it was allegedly excavated in 1986 and again in 1988, though no photographic proof of this is obtainable. These remains were also discovered with diverse stone and bone artefacts that would have been interred with them at the time of burial. The burial items and the human bones both date to approximately 3800 BC and 3200 BC. It was undoubtedly utilised as a centre for rituals until well into the Bronze Age because of its remote position, and there is indication that it was still in use in the early mediaeval Celtic era. Given its prominent location, which was viewable from all directions and near to the crucial north-south road that ran from Ballyvaughan Bay south to the area where Kilnaboy currently lies, it may have also been used as a territorial marker during the Neolithic era. The building may have been built by the settlers in the area of what is now Kilnaboy to mark the northern boundary of their land, albeit it was also used for funerals. [Information and Image Credit : Poulnabrone_dolmen, Wikipedia] [Image : Poulnabrone dolmen]
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