Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Home
  • Home
Hostname: page-component-559fc8cf4f-z4vvc Total loading time: 0.317 Render date: 2021-03-05T18:02:56.684Z Has data issue: true Feature Flags: { "shouldUseShareProductTool": true, "shouldUseHypothesis": true, "isUnsiloEnabled": true, "metricsAbstractViews": false, "figures": false, "newCiteModal": false, "newCitedByModal": true }
EnglishFrançais
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society

Article contents

Aspects of Ritual Deposition in the Late Neolithic and Beaker Periods at Newgrange, Co. Meath

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2014

Charles Mount
Charles Mount
Affiliation:
18 Fox Hill, Wheaten Hall, Drogheda, Co. Louth
Get access
Rights & Permissions[Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The passage tomb at Newgrange served as a focus of ceremonial activity in the Late Neolithic and Beaker periods. A complex of monuments was constructed around the mound, consisting of a timber circle or woodhenge to the south-east and a smaller, possibly roofed, timber circle to the west; an enclosing bank constructed along the southern and western sides, and a free-standing circle of great stones encircling the monument. In this paper the view that the faunal and material remains from the Newgrange excavations are domestic refuse is questioned. The deposition and spatial patterning of the faunal material is interpreted as having a ritual significance and the use of this material as representative of the Late Neolithic/Beaker period economy is rejected

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society , Volume 60 , Issue 1 , 1994 , pp. 433 - 443
Copyright
Copyright © The Prehistoric Society 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below.
If you should have access and can't see this content please contact technical support.

References

Atkinson, R. J. C., Piggott, C. M. and Sanders, N. K. 1951. Excavations at Dorchester, Oxon. Oxford: Ashmolean Museum.Google Scholar
Bradley, R. 1976. Maumbury Rings, Dorchester: the excavations of 1908–1913. Arcbaeologia 105, 1–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradley, R. 1984. The Social Foundations of Prehistoric Britain. Harlow: Longman.Google Scholar
Burl, H. A. W. 1969. Henges: internal features and regional groups. Archaeological Journal 129, 1–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, J. G. D. 1936. The timber monument at Arminghall and its affinities. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 2, 1–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, D. V., Cowie, T. G. & Foxon, A. 1985. Symbols of Power at the Time of Stonehenge. Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Cleary, R. M. 1983. The ceramic assemblage. In O'Kelly, M. J., Cleary, R. M. & Lehane, D., Newgrange, Co. Meath, Ireland. The Late Neolithic/Beaker period settlement. Oxford: British Archaeological Report S190.Google Scholar
Cooney, G. 1987. North Leinster in the Earlier Prehistoric Period. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, University College Dublin.Google Scholar
Cooney, G. 1991. Irish Neolithic landscapes and land use systems: the implications of field systems. Rural History 2.2, 123–139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cunnington, M. E. 1931. The sanctuary on Overton Hill near Avebury. Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine 45, 300–335.Google Scholar
Eogan, G. 1992. Scottish and Irish Passage Tombs: some comparisons and contrasts. In Sharpies, N. & Sheridan, A. (eds), Vessels for the Ancestors. Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Eogan, G. & Roche, H. 1993. Neolithic ritual at Knowth? Archaeology Ireland 7.4, 16–18.Google Scholar
Fahy, E. M. 1959. A recumbent stone circle at Drombeg, Co. Cork. Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society 64, 1–27.Google Scholar
Grogan, E. 1991. Radiocarbon dates from Brugh na Bóinne. In Eogan, G., Prehistoric and Early Historic culture change at Brugh Na Bóinne. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 91c, 126–132.Google Scholar
Hartwell, B. 1991. Ballynahatty — a prehistoric ceremonial centre. Archaeology Ireland 5.4, 12–15.Google Scholar
Houlder, C. 1968. The henge monuments at Llandegai. Antiquity 42, 67, 216–221.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibson, A. 1992. The timber circle at Sarn-y-bryn-caled, Welshpool, Powys; ritual and sacrifice in Bronze Age mid-Wales. Antiquity 66, 84–92.10.1017/S0003598X00081060CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Legge, A. J. 1993. Excavations at Grimes Graves, Norfolk, 1971–1976. Fascicule 4: Animals, Environment And The Bronze Age Economy. London: British Museum Press.Google Scholar
Lynn, C. J. 1986. Navan Fort, a draft summary of D.M. Waterman's excavations. Emania 1, 11–19.Google Scholar
Lynn, C. J. 1991. Knockaulin (Dún Ailinne) and Navan, some architectural comparisons. Emania 8, 51–56.Google Scholar
Lynn, C. J. 1992. The Iron Age Mound in Navan Fort: a physical realization of Celtic religious beliefs? Emania 10, 33–57.Google Scholar
Mallory, J. P. 1991. Excavations at Haughey's Fort. Emania 8, 10–26.Google Scholar
McCormick, F. 1987. Appendix 1: The animal bones from Newgrange. In Sweetman, D., 1987, Excavations of a Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age site at Newgrange, Co. Meath. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 87c, 283–298.Google Scholar
McCormick, F. 1991. The animal bones from Haughey's Fort: second report. Emania 8, 27–33.Google Scholar
Megaw, J. V. S. & Simpson, D. D. A. 1979. Introduction to British Prehistory. Leicester: University Press.Google Scholar
Mercer, R. J. 1981. The excavation of a Late Neolithic henge-type enclosure at Balfarg, Markinch, Fife, Scotland, 1977–78. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 111, 63–171.Google Scholar
Milisauskas, S. M. 1978. European Prehistory, New York: Academic.Google Scholar
O'Kelly, M. J. 1982. Newgrange: Archaeology, art and legend. Dublin: Thames and Hudson.Google Scholar
O'Kelly, M. J., Cleary, R. M., & Lehane, D. 1983. New-grange, Co. Meath, Ireland. The Late Neolithic/Beaker period settlement Oxford: British Archaeological Report S190.Google Scholar
O'Ríordáin, S. P. 1951. Lough Gur excavations: the great stone circle (B) in Grange Townland. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 54c, 37–74.Google Scholar
O'Sullivan, V. R., Gunn, H. M., Monk, J., & O'Donnabháin, B. 1985. Appendix II: Anatomical report on the bones from the pit burials. In Sweetman, D., 1985. A Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age pit circle at Newgrange, Co. Meath. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 85c, 195–221.Google Scholar
Pearson, M. P. 1993. Bronze Age Britain. London: Batsford/English Heritage.Google Scholar
Pollard, J. 1992. The Sanctuary, Overton Hill, Wiltshire: a re-examination. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 58, 213–226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richards, C. & Thomas, J. 1984. Ritual activity and structure deposition in Later Neolithic Wessex. In Bradley, R. and Gardiner, J. (eds), 1994. Neolithic Studies. Oxford: British Archaeological Report S133, 189–218.Google Scholar
Shanks, M. & Tilley, C. 1982. Ideology, symbolic power and ritual communication: a reinterpretation of Neolithic mortuary practices. In Hodder, I. (ed.), Symbolic and Structural Archaeology. Cambridge: University Press. 129–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stout, G. 1991. Embanked enclosures of the Boyne region. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 91c, 245–284.Google Scholar
Sweetman, P. D. 1976. An earthen enclosure at Monknewtown, Slane, Co. Meath. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 76c, 25–72.Google Scholar
Sweetman, P. D. 1985. A Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age pit circle at Newgrange, Co. Meath. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 85c, 195–221.Google Scholar
Sweetman, P. D. 1987. Excavations of a Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age site at Newgrange, Co. Meath. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 87c, 283–298.Google Scholar
Wainwright, G. J. 1971. The excavation of a Late Neolithic enclosure at Marden, Wiltshire. Antiquaries Journal 51, 177–239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wainwright, G. J. 1979. Mount Pleasant, Dorset: excavations 1970–71. London: Report of the Research Committee of the Society of Antiquarians of London 37.Google Scholar
Wainwright, G. J. & Longworth, I. 1971. Durrington Walls: excavation 1966–68. London: Report of the Research Committee of the Society of Antiquarians of London 29.Google Scholar
Wijngaarden-Bakker van, L. H. 1974. The animal remains from the Beaker settlement at Newgrange, Co. Meath: first report. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 74c, 313–383.Google Scholar
Wijngaarden-Bakker van, L. H. 1986. The animal remains from the Beaker settlement at Newgrange, Co. Meath: final report. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 86c, 17–112.Google Scholar
Woodman, P. 1985. Prehistoric Settlement and Environment, in Edwards, K. J. & Warren, W. P. (eds), 1985, The Quar-ternary History of Ireland, London, 251–278.Google Scholar

Full text views

Full text views reflects PDF downloads, PDFs sent to Google Drive, Dropbox and Kindle and HTML full text views.

Total number of HTML views: 0
Total number of PDF views: 69 *
View data table for this chart

* Views captured on Cambridge Core between September 2016 - 5th March 2021. This data will be updated every 24 hours.

10 Cited by

Send article to Kindle

To send this article to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about sending to your Kindle. Find out more about sending to your Kindle.

Note you can select to send to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be sent to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Aspects of Ritual Deposition in the Late Neolithic and Beaker Periods at Newgrange, Co. Meath
Available formats
×

Send article to Dropbox

To send this article to your Dropbox account, please select one or more formats and confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your <service> account. Find out more about sending content to Dropbox.

Aspects of Ritual Deposition in the Late Neolithic and Beaker Periods at Newgrange, Co. Meath
Available formats
×

Send article to Google Drive

To send this article to your Google Drive account, please select one or more formats and confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your <service> account. Find out more about sending content to Google Drive.

Aspects of Ritual Deposition in the Late Neolithic and Beaker Periods at Newgrange, Co. Meath
Available formats
×
×

Reply to: Submit a response

Your details

Conflicting interests

Do you have any conflicting interests? *