Wedge tomb von Munmahoge
DatedEst. 2500–2000 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 wedge tomb of Munmahoge (Irish Móin Mhothóige) is a megalithic gallery tomb in the townland of Munmahoge near Tramore, County Waterford, Ireland. A typological estimate places wedge tombs of this kind between 2500 and 2000 BCE.
It is one of only two surviving wedge tombs in County Waterford, the other being Carrickavrantry.
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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
Wedge tomb von Munmahoge
The tomb lies on a heavily overgrown field boundary, at the top of a north-facing slope from which the portal tomb of Knockeen can be seen.
SettingSources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Wedge Tomb von MunmahogeCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Wedge Tomb von MunmahogeCC BY-SA 4.0
The tomb lies on a heavily overgrown field boundary, at the top of a north-facing slope from which the portal tomb of Knockeen can be seen.
DescriptionSources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Wedge Tomb von MunmahogeCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Wedge Tomb von MunmahogeCC BY-SA 4.0
The tomb has three supporting stones on each side and one capstone resting on them. Two large stones in the earth bank may be the original capstones. The gallery is oriented west-east and is about three metres long and 0.9 metres wide.
ContextSources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Wedge Tomb von MunmahogeCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Wedge Tomb von MunmahogeCC 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.
In Ireland 559 wedge tombs are currently known, occurring mainly in the western half of the island.
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
- 559 CE
In Irland sind aktuell 559 Wedge Tombs bekannt.
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°12′14″ N, 7°09′26″ WFor a GPS or map app: 52.20388, -7.15718
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.
Knockeen Portal Tomb4500–1800 BCE
Gaulstown Portal Tomb4500–1800 BCE
Ballindud Portal Tomb4000–3000 BCE- Menhir (standing stone)Menhir von Ballymote2800–1800 BCE
Matthewstown- Portal tomb (portal dolmen)Portal Tomb von Dunhill4000–3000 BCE
- MegalithBallygunnertemple3300–2900 BCE
Ballynageeragh Portal Tomb4500–1800 BCE
Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
2 sources behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q15853790wikidata.org
- 02Source for this dateen.wikipedia.org
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Around this place
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Credit
Text, licence and sources
Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Wedge Tomb von Munmahoge" (German), 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