Island Wedge Tomb
Datedc. 2500 BCE
No licensed photograph yetWe have no photograph we may publish for this site, so the interpretive 3D view leads instead.
Overview
About this site
Overview
The Island Wedge Tomb is a wedge-shaped gallery grave and National Monument in County Cork, Ireland. It is located 9.3 km (5.8 mi) southeast of Mallow.
Tombs of this kind were built in Ireland in the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age, c. 2500–2000 BC. Carbon-14 dating indicated activity in the range 1412–1308 BC. The tomb was excavated and partially restored in 1957.
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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.
Article
Island Wedge Tomb
DescriptionSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Island Wedge TombCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Island Wedge TombCC BY-SA 4.0
The gallery of the tomb is oriented SW–NE. It is divided into a portico and a main chamber, enclosed in a U-shaped outer wall that is surrounded by an oval cairn measuring 11.5 m (38 ft) long by 9.7 m (32 ft) wide. The tomb has double walls, and its entrance is marked with two large orthostats.
Some cremated bones were found during the excavation, located towards the end of the gallery.
ExcavationsSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Island Wedge TombCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Island Wedge TombCC BY-SA 4.0
The tomb was excavated and partially restored in 1957. Some cremated bones were found during the excavation, located towards the end of the gallery.
FindsSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Island Wedge TombCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Island Wedge TombCC BY-SA 4.0
Evidence of cremated burial was found in several areas of the main chamber, together with worked flint and scrapers. A spindle whorl and two glass beads were also found. 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 that of a female aged 60-70 years.
DatingSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Island Wedge TombCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Island Wedge TombCC BY-SA 4.0
Wedge tombs of this kind were built in Ireland in the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age, c. 2500–2000 BC. Carbon-14 dating indicated activity in the time range of 1412–1308 BC and suggested that the gallery and outer wall were constructed in the Early Bronze Age, with later enhancements.
ContextSources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Island Wedge TombCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (English): Island Wedge TombCC BY-SA 4.0
A wedge tomb takes its name from the way the burial chamber narrows at one end, usually decreasing both in height and in width from west to east. Wedge tombs are one of the four categories of Irish megalithic tomb described by Seán Ó Nualláin and Rúaidhrí de Valera in their survey of 1961: court cairns, portal dolmens, wedge-shaped gallery graves and passage tombs.
Tradition and region
About this kind of monument
Irish wedge tombs
A wedge tomb, or wedge-shaped gallery grave, is a type of Irish chamber tomb. It takes its name from the way the burial chamber narrows at one end, usually decreasing both in height and in width from west to east, which gives it a wedge shape in profile. An antechamber is separated from the burial area by a simple stone slab. Wedge tombs are one of the four categories of megalithic tomb described by the Irish scholars Seán Ó Nualláin and Rúaidhrí de Valera in their survey of 1961: court cairns, portal dolmens, wedge-shaped gallery graves and passage tombs.
A gallery grave is a megalithic tomb in which the main gallery is entered without first passing through an antechamber or hallway. The gallery graves of western Europe were probably community burial sites, in which family or hamlet members were laid to reinforce the sense of community. Gallery graves can be covered with an earthen mound or a cairn, and there are at least four major types: complex, transepted, segmented and wedge-shaped.
Wedge tombs were built between the Irish late Neolithic and the middle Bronze Age, about 2500 to 2000 BCE. Between 500 and 550 survive, mostly in the west and north-west of Ireland. A distinguishing feature is the double walling of the gallery. They were often covered by round, oval or D-shaped cairns, usually about 1.5 metres high, with a kerb, and are generally found on mountainsides, about three-quarters of the way up. The doorway generally faces west.
When visiting, look at how the walls narrow towards the back of the tomb and at the double wall of the gallery.
Paraphrased from Wikipedia: Wedge-shaped gallery grave, Wikipedia: Gallery grave, Wikipedia: Bell Beaker culture, Wikipedia: Passage grave · CC BY-SA 4.0
From the article
Dated moments in the story
- 2000 BCE
Wedge tombs of this kind were built in Ireland in the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age, c. 2500–2000 BC.
Source - 1308 BCE
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.
Source - 1957
The tomb was excavated and partially restored in 1957. Some cremated bones were found during the excavation, located towards the end of the gallery.
Source
Lore
Evidence & Lore
What the sources actually support — and, kept apart, what has been claimed.
What the evidence supports
Dates
Est. 2500–2000 BCEHow this date was established: Type comparisonTypical range for wedge tombs in Ireland; this site has not been dated itself. Wedge tombs were built between the Irish late Neolithic and middle Bronze Ages about 2500 to 2000 BC.Source for this date
Where it stands
Ireland
The pin marks the monument itself — its exact point.
- Coordinates
- 52°04′04″ N, 8°34′47″ WFor a GPS or map app: 52.06767, -8.57960
Access is as our sources describe it; we have not visited the site to check.
Nearby
The closest sites in the Atlas, by straight line.
- Wedge tombwedge tomb of Island2500–2000 BCE
Wedge Tomb von Ryefield East2500–2000 BCE- Megalithic complexBeenalaght
- Stone row (alignment)Steinreihe von Garrane
Wedge Tomb von Kilmaclenine2500–2000 BCE- Wedge tombWedge Tomb von Knocknagoun2500–2000 BCE
Labbacallee wedge tomb2350–2250 BCE
Carrigagulla Stone Circle3300–2500 BCE
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Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
3 sources behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q30593624wikidata.org
- 02Source for this dateen.wikipedia.org
- 03Wikipedia: Island Wedge Tomben.wikipedia.org
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Around this place
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Credit
Text, licence and sources
Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Island Wedge Tomb" (English), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; authors are listed in the page history. Reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikipedia · Edit history and authors
- Wikipedia (English): Island Wedge TombCC BY-SA 4.0
- Wikidata Q30593624CC0