Calliagh — Taking in the view from Calliagh Wedge Tomb

Wedge tomb

Calliagh

Ireland

DatedEst. 2500–2000 BCE

Photo Enda O Flaherty · CC BY-SA 2.0Source file on Wikimedia Commons

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Overview

About this site

Overview

Calliagh (Irish An Chailleach) is a heavily disturbed wedge tomb standing on a drumlin about 8.0 km south-west of Monaghan in County Monaghan, Ireland. It was built in the Neolithic.

Its gallery is about 7.5 metres long and retains remains of double walls, chiefly on the south side. An antechamber at the front is separated from the main gallery by a side slab.

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Where it sits in time

The site's dated range, placed against world reference points.

The scale is logarithmic: each step to the left is about ten times older than the last.

Est. 2500–2000 BCEHow this date was established: Type comparisonTypical for this type

What this badge meansThe published range for this kind of monument in this region. It is not a date for this site.
Source for this date

Article

Calliagh

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It is too small to have been a capstone, but it may be an orthostat of the kind occasionally observed, which originally divided off the entrance.

Calliagh

Description

Sources for this section

The monument consists of large stones. The gallery, about 7.5 metres long, preserves remains of double walls, mainly on the south side. At the front is an antechamber, separated from the main gallery by a side slab.

Inside the chamber one stone leans against a wall. It is too small to have been a capstone, but it may be an orthostat of the kind occasionally observed, which originally divided off the entrance. Some capstones survive in displaced positions.

The mound is almost 20.0 m long and more than 10.0 m wide. At the front and along one side of the mound stand two stones about 2.0 metres high, which could be original standing stones or displaced capstones. Upright stones at the rear of the monument may be part of the original kerb.

Dating

Sources for this section

The monument is described as having been built between 4000 and 2500 BCE, in the Neolithic. The catalogue record gives a typological estimate of 2500 to 2000 BCE; neither date rests on excavation.