 | |
  Shown within Ireland | |
| Location | Phoenix Park, near Dublin |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 53°21′3″N6°20′26″W / 53.35083°N 6.34056°W Coordinates: 53°21′3″N6°20′26″W / 53.35083°N 6.34056°W |
| OS grid reference | O 10 34 |
| History | |
| Periods | Neolithic |
Knockmaree Dolmen, or Knockmaree Cist, is a prehistoric site of the Neolithic period, in Phoenix Park just north of Chapelizod, near Dublin, Ireland. Other forms of the name are Knockmary or Knockmaroon Dolmen, or Cnoc-Maraidhe.
The tomb, situated on a small ridge, is a cist, a type of burial chamber found in Ireland on the south and east coast. It dates from about 3000 B.C. to 2500 B.C. A capstone, measuring 1.96 metres (6 ft 5 in) by 1.05 metres (3 ft 5 in), is supported by smaller stones. The capstone is water-worn, and is thought to have come from the River Liffey nearby. [1] [2]
It was discovered in 1838, when workmen were employed to remove a tumulus of height 15 feet (4.6 m) and circumference 120 feet (37 m). In the centre of the mound were found the stones now visible; four other cists were found in the outer area. [1] [2]
The remains were examined by the Royal Irish Academy, the Academy's report later being delivered by George Petrie. [1]
In the central burial chamber, measuring 1.20 metres (3 ft 11 in) by 0.60 metres (2 ft 0 in), two male skeletons were found in a crouched position. They were almost complete and aged about 40 and 50 years. Grave goods were found including many small perforated sea-shells (of species known then as Nerita litoralis ), which presumably formed a necklace, and a flint knife. In the outer cists, an urn and food vessels were found, with fragments of burnt bone and ashes. [1] [2]
The tomb is known as a "Linkardstown burial", after a megalithic grave found in the townland of Linkardstown, south-east of Carlow. There is a group of such burials, having mounds of similar size and situated on a hilltop or similar location. [1]
The tomb was repaired in 1973 and in the 1990s, including the addition of a concrete block to support the capstone. [3]
In the 1970s the tomb was damaged by fire which resulted in cracks in the capstone. These were subsequently fixed with concrete. [3]
In early 2023, the tomb was further damaged with a part of the capstone broken off. Tire tracks around the tomb indicate it may have been struck by machinery. The Office of Public Works stated that the damage had resulted from the failure of the earlier repairs. Since the 1990s, requests have been made to further protect the site with fencing and signage. [3]
A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea.
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 Neolithic passage grave and an ancient monument of the World Heritage Site of Brú na Bóinne located 8.4 km west of Drogheda in Ireland's valley of the River Boyne. It is the largest passage grave of the Brú na Bóinne complex. It consists of a large mound and 17 smaller satellite tombs. The mound is about 12 metres (40 ft) high and 67 metres (220 ft) in diameter, covering roughly a hectare. It contains two passages placed along an east-west line and is encircled by 127 kerbstones, of which three are missing, and four badly damaged.
Carrowmore is a large group of megalithic monuments on the Coolera Peninsula to the west of Sligo, Ireland. They were built in the 4th millennium BC, during the Neolithic. There are thirty surviving tombs, making Carrowmore one of the largest clusters of megalithic tombs in Ireland, and one of the 'big four' along with Carrowkeel, Loughcrew and Brú na Bóinne. Carrowmore is the heart of an ancient ritual landscape which is dominated by the mountain of Knocknarea to the west. It is a protected National Monument.
Poulnabrone dolmen is an unusually large dolmen or portal tomb located in the Burren, County Clare, Ireland. Situated on one of the most desolate and highest points of the region, it comprises three standing portal stones supporting a heavy horizontal capstone, and dates to the Neolithic period, probably between 4200 BC and 2900 BC. It is the best known and most widely photographed of the approximately 172 dolmens in Ireland.
The Carnac stones are an exceptionally dense collection of megalithic sites near the south coast of Brittany in northwestern France, consisting of stone alignments (rows), dolmens, tumuli and single menhirs. More than 3,000 prehistoric standing stones were hewn from local granite and erected by the pre-Celtic people of Brittany and form the largest such collection in the world. Most of the stones are within the Breton municipality of Carnac, but some to the east are within neighboring La Trinité-sur-Mer. The stones were erected at some stage during the Neolithic period, probably around 3300 BC, but some may date to as early as 4500 BC.
Pentre Ifan is the name of an ancient manor in the community and parish of Nevern, Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is 11 miles (18 km) from Cardigan, Ceredigion, and 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Newport, Pembrokeshire. Pentre Ifan contains and gives its name to the largest and best preserved neolithic dolmen in Wales.
The dolmens of Jersey are neolithic sites, including dolmens, in Jersey. They range over a wide period, from around 4800 BC to 2250 BC, these dates covering the periods roughly designated as Neolithic, or “new stone age”, to Chalcolithic, or “copper age”.
The Tumulus of Bougon or Necropolis of Bougon is a group of five Neolithic barrows located in Bougon near La-Mothe-Saint-Héray, between Exoudon and Pamproux in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. Their discovery in 1840 raised great scientific interest. To protect the monuments, the site was acquired by the department of Deux-Sèvres in 1873. Excavations resumed in the late 1960s. The oldest structures of this prehistoric monument date to 4800 BC.
Tinkinswood or its full name Tinkinswood Burial Chamber, also known as Castell Carreg, Llech-y-Filiast and Maes-y-Filiast, is a megalithic burial chamber, built around 6,000 years ago, during the Neolithic period, in the Vale of Glamorgan, near Cardiff, Wales.
The St Lythans burial chamber is a single stone megalithic dolmen, built around 4,000 BC as part of a chambered long barrow, during the mid Neolithic period, in what is now known as the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales.
In the area of present-day Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, up to 5,000 megalith tombs were erected as burial sites by people of the Neolithic Funnelbeaker (TRB) culture. More than 1,000 of them are preserved today and protected by law. Though varying in style and age, megalith structures are common in Western Europe, with those in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern belonging to the youngest and easternmost—further east, in the modern West Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland, monuments erected by the TRB people did not include lithic structures, while they do in the south (Brandenburg), west and north (Denmark).
Nordic megalith architecture is an ancient architectural style found in Northern Europe, especially Scandinavia and North Germany, that involves large slabs of stone arranged to form a structure. It emerged in northern Europe, predominantly between 3500 and 2800 BC. It was primarily a product of the Funnelbeaker culture. Between 1964 and 1974, Ewald Schuldt in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania excavated over 100 sites of different types: simple dolmens, extended dolmens, passage graves, great dolmens, unchambered long barrows, and stone cists. In addition, there are polygonal dolmens and types that emerged later, for example, the Grabkiste and Röse. This nomenclature, which specifically derives from the German, is not used in Scandinavia where these sites are categorised by other, more general, terms, as dolmens, passage graves and stone cists.
The simple dolmen or primeval dolmen is an early form of dolmen or megalithic tomb that occurs especially in Northern Europe. The term was defined by archaeologist, Ernst Sprockhoff, and utilised by Ewald Schuldt in publicising his excavation of 106 megalithic sites in the north German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The simple dolmen emerged in the early days of the development of megalithic monuments of the Funnelbeaker culture (TBK) and around 3,500 BC they appeared across almost the entire region covered by the stone cult structures of Nordic megalith architecture, but not in the Netherlands, in Lower Saxony west of the River Weser nor east of the River Oder and only once in Sweden.
Brane Barrow, or Chapel Euny Barrow, is a Neolithic entrance grave located near the hamlet of Brane, Cornwall, England, UK. It is considered to be one of the smallest and best preserved burial monuments in Britain.
Tholos de El Romeral, situated 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) north east of the town of Antequera (Andalusia), is one of the most important examples of Neolithic architecture in southern Europe. Tholos de El Romeral, also known as Cueva de Romeral and Dolmen de Romeral, is a megalithic burial site built circa 1800 BCE. It is one of three tombs in region, the others being Dolmen de Menga and Dolmen de Viera, both situated to the south west.
Tŷ Newydd Burial Chamber is a Neolithic dolmen located northeast of the village of Llanfaelog on the Isle of Anglesey in Wales. It is located near Tŷ Newydd farm, and is in the care of Cadw.
The Gaulstown Portal Tomb or Gaulstown Dolmen is a megalithic portal tomb situated in Gaulstown, Butlerstown in County Waterford in the Republic of Ireland. It lies about 7 km south west of Waterford City.
Pawton Quoit is a prehistoric portal dolmen, which dates to the Early and Middle Neolithic period in England. The burial monument is located near Haycrock Farm, south of St Breock, in Cornwall, England.
