The Carrowmore complex of megalithic structures is located on the Coolera Peninsula, west of Sligo, Ireland. They were constructed in the Neolithic period, around 4000 BC i.e. during New Stone Age. With thirty still standing tombs, Carrowmore is one of the greatest collections of megalithic tombs of Ireland and one of the Big Four megalithic tomb groupings, along with Carrowkeel, Loughcrew and Brú na Bóinne. The summit of Knocknarea to the west, which is the centre of an old ritual panorama, is Carrowmore. It is a National Monument that is protected. Carrowmore is the centre of a prehistoric ceremonial scene that is characterized by the mountain of Knocknarea to the west and the large mound of Miosgán Médhbh on top. It is situated on a tiny plateau between 36.5 and 59 metres above sea level. Four passage tombs are located in the summits of the Ballygawley Mountains, which form the eastern edge of the peninsula and are located in the Carns townland to the east. There are currently thirty landmarks in Carrowmore. Originally, there might have been additional monuments in the site, but some of them perished as a result of land clearing and quarrying in the eighteenth, nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. The compound is roughly 600 metres east-west and one kilometre north-south in dimensions. The monuments were composed of a central megalith that resembled a dolmen, five upright orthostats, and a small pentagonal burial chamber that was enclosed by a capstone that was roughly conical in shape. A circle of boulders with a diameter of 12 to 15 metres encircled each of these. The graves are often made of gneiss, and the boulder circles comprise 30 to 40 of these stones. A second, inner boulder circle can appear occasionally. The intended alignment of the dolmen is shown by the passage or entrance stones that stretch from the primary component. They approach the general direction of the central mound but are not pointed in the direction of the points of the compass. Four instances have pairs of monuments. Each monument was constructed on a little, level platform made of stone and dirt. One of the factors contributing to the lifespan of the dolmens is the skillfully constructed stone packing that encircled and secured the upright stone-bases. The roof, which is now gone, might have been supported on corbels or made of stone slabs.
[Information and Image Credit : Carrowmore, Wikipedia] [Image : Tomb 13 with Maeve Cairn in the background ]
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#Architecture
Heritage and Geographical Sites
