The Poulnabrone dolmen (between 4200 BC and 2900 BC) in county Clare, Ireland
Poulnabrone dolmen (meaning "hole of the quern stones") is a portal tomb in the Burren, County Clare, Ireland, dating back to the Neolithic period, probably between 4200 BCE and 2900 BCE. It is situated 8 km (5 miles) south of Ballyvaughan in the parish of Carran, km (6 miles) north-west of Kilnaboy. The dolmen consists of a twelve-foot, thin, slab-like, tabular capstone supported by two slender portal stones, which support the capstone m (6 ft) from the ground, creating a chamber in a 9 m (30 ft) low cairn. The cairn helped stabilize the tomb chamber, and would have been no higher during the Neolithic. The entrance faces north and is crossed by a low sill stone. A crack was discovered in the eastern portal stone in 1985. Following the resulting collapse, the dolmen was dismantled, and the cracked stone was replaced. Excavations during that time found that between 16 and 22 adults and six children were buried under the monument. Personal items buried with the dead included a polished stone axe, a bone pendant, quartz crystals, weapons and pottery. In the Bronze Age, around 1700 BCE, a newborn baby was buried in the portico, just outside the entrance. With its dominating presence on the limestone landscape of the Burren, the tomb was likely a centre for ceremony and ritual until well into the Celtic period, or it may have served as a territorial marker in the Neolithic landscape.
Size: 5616px × 3744px
Location: Poulnabrone dolmen, County Clare, province of Connacht, Ireland, Western Europe
Photo credit: © DE ROCKER / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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