Wedge Tomb von Newgrove
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 Newgrove lies in the townland of Ballyslattery or Newgrove (Irish Baile Uí Shlatara), west of Tulla in County Clare, Ireland. It is marked on older maps as ‘Giant’s Grave’.
It is a small, well-preserved wedge tomb. Most of its outer facade, its roof and some stones of the round mound survive.
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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 Newgrove
The orthostat at the south-west end, which closes the chamber, does not appear to support the capstone.
DescriptionSources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Wedge Tomb von NewgroveCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Wedge Tomb von NewgroveCC BY-SA 4.0
The tomb is oriented north-east to south-west, with its opening in the north-east. The large side stones have been pushed sideways under the weight of the capstone. The orthostat at the south-west end, which closes the chamber, does not appear to support the capstone.
Further stones stand along the south-west side. A stone along the north-east side stands close to the side stone, and the gap between them is filled with smaller stones.
The chamber is about 2.2 m long, about 1.3 m wide and just over 1 m high. A loose sandstone block at the chamber entrance has a round hollow 9.0 cm deep and about 27.0 cm in diameter; it is a bullaun.
DatingSources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Wedge Tomb von NewgroveCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Wedge Tomb von NewgroveCC BY-SA 4.0
The catalogue record gives a typological estimate of 2500 to 2000 BCE. The monument has no scientific date.
ContextSources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Wedge Tomb von NewgroveCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (German): Wedge Tomb von NewgroveCC 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. An antechamber is usually separated from the burial area by a simple stone slab.
Wedge tombs are one of the four categories of 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
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°52′15″ N, 8°48′45″ WFor a GPS or map app: 52.87087, -8.81242
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.
Magh Adhair3700–2900 BCE- Wedge tombBallyhickey Wedge Tomb2500–2000 BCE
- Menhir (standing stone)Knappogue Stones2800–1800 BCE
- Wedge tombWedge Tomb von Ballinphunta2500–2000 BCE
Wedge Tomb of Kilcrimple2500–2000 BCE- Chambered cairnSlievenaglasha Wedge Tomb3750–2900 BCE
- Wedge tombWedge Tomb of Cappaghkennedy2500–2000 BCE
Parknabinnia Wedge Tomb4000–2900 BCE
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Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
2 sources behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q26821850wikidata.org
- 02Source for this dateen.wikipedia.org
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Around this place
The ten nearest sites, by compass
Credit
Text, licence and sources
Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Wedge Tomb von Newgrove" (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