| Island Wedge Tomb | |
|---|---|
| Native name Irish: Tuama Dingeach an Oileáin | |
 Plan of the Island Wedge Tomb | |
| Type | wedge-shaped gallery grave |
| Location | Island, Mallow, County Cork, Ireland |
| Coordinates | 52°04′04″N8°34′47″W / 52.0677°N 8.5796°W |
| Built | c. 2500 BC |
  Location of Island Wedge Tomb in Ireland | |
| Official name | Island |
| Reference no. | 502 [1] |
The Island Wedge Tomb is a wedge-shaped gallery grave and National Monument located southeast of Mallow in County Cork, Ireland. [2] [3] [4] [5]
The Island Wedge Tomb is located 9.3 km (5.8 mi) southeast of Mallow. [6] [7]
Wedge tombs of this kind were built in Ireland in the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age, c. 2500–2000 BC. [8] Carbon-14 dating indicated activity in the time range of 1412–1308 BC and suggested that the gallery and outer wall were constructed in Early Bronze Age, with later enhancements. Evidence of cremated burial was found in several areas of the main chamber, as well as worked flint and scrapers. Also found were a spindle whorl and two glass beads. Three lots of cremated bone were found in the chamber but two were too small for meaningful interpretation. The third, in a pit towards the rear, was probably a 60-70-year-old female. [9]
The tomb was excavated and partially restored in 1957. Some cremated bones were found during the excavation, located towards the end of the gallery. [10]
The gallery of this tomb is oriented SW–NE. It is divided into a portico and main chamber enclosed in a U-shaped outer wall surrounded by an oval cairn measuring 11.5 m (38 ft) long by 9.7 m (32 ft) wide. It has double walls and an entrance marked with two large orthostats. [11]
Newgrange is a prehistoric monument in County Meath in Ireland, located on a rise overlooking the River Boyne, eight kilometres west of the town of Drogheda. It is an exceptionally grand passage tomb built during the Neolithic Period, around 3200 BC, making it older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids. Newgrange is the main monument in the Brú na Bóinne complex, a World Heritage Site that also includes the passage tombs of Knowth and Dowth, as well as other henges, burial mounds and standing stones.
The court cairn or court tomb is a megalithic type of chambered cairn or gallery grave. During the period, 3900–3500 BC, more than 390 court cairns were built in Ireland and over 100 in southwest Scotland. The Neolithic monuments are identified by an uncovered courtyard connected to one or more roofed and partitioned burial chambers. Many monuments were built in multiple phases in both Ireland and Scotland and later re-used in the Early Bronze Age.
A gallery grave is a form of megalithic tomb built primarily during the Neolithic Age in Europe in which the main gallery of the tomb is entered without first passing through an antechamber or hallway. There are at least four major types of gallery grave, and they may be covered with an earthen mound or rock mound.
Knowth is a prehistoric monument overlooking the River Boyne in County Meath, Ireland. It comprises a large passage tomb surrounded by 17 smaller tombs, built during the Neolithic era around 3200 BC. It contains the largest assemblage of megalithic art in Europe. Knowth is part of the Brú na Bóinne complex, a World Heritage Site that also includes the similar passage tombs of Newgrange and Dowth.
Brú na Bóinne, also called the Boyne Valley tombs, is an ancient monument complex and ritual landscape in County Meath, Ireland, located in a bend of the River Boyne. It is one of the world's most important Neolithic landscapes, comprising at least ninety monuments including passage tombs, burial mounds, standing stones and enclosures. The site is dominated by the passage tombs of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth, built during the 32nd century BC. Together these have the largest assemblage of megalithic art in Europe. The associated archaeological culture is called the "Boyne culture".
Labbacallee wedge tomb is a large pre-historic burial monument, located 8 km (5.0 mi) north-west of Fermoy and 2 km (1.2 mi) south-east of Glanworth, County Cork, Ireland. It is the largest Irish wedge tomb and dates from roughly 2300 BC. The tomb is a National Monument in State Care no. 318. It was the first megalithic tomb in the country to be described by an antiquarian writer, in John Aubrey’s manuscript of 1693.
Megalithic monuments in Ireland typically represent one of several types of megalithic tombs: court cairns, passage tombs, portal tombs and wedge tombs. The remains of over 1,000 such megalithic tombs have been recorded around Ireland.
Creevykeel Court Tomb is one of the finest examples of a court tomb remaining in Ireland. The monument is located in the N15 Donegal to Sligo road, 50 meters north of Creevykeel cross-roads close to Cliffoney village in County Sligo. The original name for the Creevykeel monument is Caiseal an Bhaoisgin, the Fort of Bhaoisgin, Tobar an Bhaoisgin being the name of the well near the cairn. A second megalithic monument existed 300 meters to the north, but it was demolished around 1890.
Moylisha Wedge Tomb, also called Labbanasighe, is a wedge-shaped gallery grave and National Monument located in County Wicklow, Ireland.
Corracloona Court Tomb, commonly called Prince Connell's Grave, is a chamber tomb and National Monument located in the north of County Leitrim in the West of Ireland.
Carricknagat Megalithic Tombs are megalithic tombs and a National Monument located in County Sligo, Ireland.
Cabragh Wedge Tomb, also called Cabragh I or the Giant's Grave, is a wedge-shaped gallery grave and National Monument located in County Sligo, Ireland.
Caheraphuca wedge tomb is a wedge-shaped gallery grave and National Monument located near Crusheen in County Clare, Ireland.
Ballynageeragh Portal Tomb is a dolmen and National Monument situated in County Waterford, Ireland.
Slievenaglasha wedge tomb is a wedge-shaped gallery grave and National Monument located in County Clare, Ireland.
Tullycommon Wedge Tomb is a wedge-shaped gallery grave and National Monument located in The Burren region of County Clare, Ireland.
Altar Wedge Tomb is a wedge-shaped gallery grave and national monument located outside the village of Schull, in County Cork, Ireland.
Carrownlisheen Wedge Tomb is a wedge-shaped gallery grave and National Monument located on Inishmaan, Ireland.
Passage tombs are a category of Megalithic monument from the Neolithic period. They are found in most regions of Ireland but are more prevalent in the Northern half of the island. The usage period of Irish passage tombs date from c. 3750 B.C. to about 2500 B.C. About twenty clusters are recorded in Ireland, but the best known examples are found along a curved trajectory from the west coast to the east, including the centres of Carrowmore and Carrowkeel in County Sligo, and Loughcrew and the Boyne Valley in County Meath.
Audleystown Court Tomb is a Neolithic dual court tomb located in Ballyculter parish, near the southern shore of Strangford Lough in County Down, Northern Ireland. The tomb was built during the period 3900–3500 BCE. It was first excavated by archaeologist, A.E. Collins in 1952. The Audleystown court tomb has a double courtyard-double burial chamber layout, which is unique to Ireland.
Island Wedge Tomb mallow.