Srahwee
DatedEst. 2500–2000 BCE
Photo Andreas F. Borchert · CC BY-SA 4.0Source file on Wikimedia Commons
Overview
About this site
Overview
Srahwee (Irish Sraith Bhuí), also known locally as Altóir, is a wedge tomb in County Mayo, Ireland. A typological estimate places it between 2500 and 2000 BCE.
It is regarded as one of the best megalithic tombs in Ireland. Its flat stone roof was used as an altar during the Penal Laws period, which gave the monument its local name.
Read on Wikipedia2 min readCC BY-SA 4.0
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
Srahwee
Sraith Bhuí is a wedge tomb, a type named for its shape: the tomb is wider and higher at the entrance and narrows towards its far end.
DescriptionSources for this section
- Wikipedia (Irish): Sraith BhuíCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (Irish): Sraith BhuíCC BY-SA 4.0
Sraith Bhuí is a wedge tomb, a type named for its shape: the tomb is wider and higher at the entrance and narrows towards its far end. This kind of tomb was built at the beginning of the Bronze Age (about 2000 BC), when the last surge of tomb building took place in Ireland. A rudimentary cross is cut into the upper surface at the south-eastern end.
NameSources for this section
- Wikipedia (Irish): Sraith BhuíCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (Irish): Sraith BhuíCC BY-SA 4.0
The local name Altóir comes from the use of the flat stone roof as an altar during the time of the Penal Laws.
ContextSources for this section
- Wikipedia (Irish): Sraith BhuíCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (Irish): Sraith BhuíCC BY-SA 4.0
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.
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
Tógadh an cineál seo tuama ag tús na Cré-Umhaoise (thart ar 2000 BC), nuair a bhí an borradh deiridh faoi thógáil tuamaí in Éirinn.
Source
Photographs
1 photograph, each with its author and licence
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
- 53°42′22″ N, 9°49′30″ WFor a GPS or map app: 53.70611, -9.82494
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.
Srahwee Tomb2500–2000 BCE- Court tomb (court cairn)Court Tomb von Aillemore3750–2900 BCE
- MegalithMegalithen von Killadangan3300–2900 BCE
- Court tomb (court cairn)Court Tomb von Mweelin3750–2900 BCE
Ardnagreevagh Wedge Tomb2500–2000 BCE
Lankill Standing Stone2800–1800 BCE- Court tomb (court cairn)Court Tomb von Cleggan3750–2900 BCE
Knockbrack Tomb3750–2900 BCE
Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
2 sources behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q2315089wikidata.org
- 02Source for this dateen.wikipedia.org
Image files
- Srahwee Wedge Tomb 2019 09 04.jpgAndreas F. BorchertCC BY-SA 4.0
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Around this place
The ten nearest sites, by compass
Credit
Text, licence and sources
Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Sraith Bhuí" (Irish), 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 (Irish): Sraith BhuíCC BY-SA 4.0
- Wikidata Q2315089CC0