On mornings around the winter solstice a beam of light penetrates the roof-box and travels up the 19 metre passage and into the chamber. … As the sun rises higher, the beam widens so that the whole chamber is dramatically illuminated.
Why is Newgrange famous?
Newgrange is the best known Irish passage tomb and dates to c. 3,200BC. The large mound is approximately 80m in diameter and is surrounded at its base by a kerb of 97 stones. The most impressive of these stones is the highly decorated Entrance Stone.
Why is Newgrange sacred?
For the people who built Newgrange, the winter solstice marked the start of the new year, and symbolized fertility and rebirth. Newgrange was not just a place of burial but an important ceremonial place for the people of the area.
Is anyone buried in Newgrange?
RESEARCHERS AT Trinity College Dublin have shed light on the genetic makeup of a man buried in County Meath's famous neolithic tomb, Newgrange. … Author of the paper which revealed the genetic makeup of the ancient remains, Dr Lara Cassidy, wrote in international journal Nature that she had "never seen anything like it".
What happens on the 21st of December in Newgrange?
This year December 20 and 21 marks the winter solstice, the shortest day and longest night of the year for those who live in the northern half of the globe. As sunlight hits the back of this Neolithic passage tomb every year it's as though our ancestors of 5,000 years ago are reaching out to us.
When was Newgrange abandoned?
For some reason, the monument was abandoned during Ireland's early Iron Age (c. 3rd century BCE) following the arrival of the Celts. For the next 2,000 years there was no ritual activity in the region, and the fields were used by farmers such as the monks of Mellifont Abbey.
Is Newgrange a wonder of the world?
Had the ancient Greeks known about Newgrange, they would surely have listed it as a wonder of the ancient world. For the elaborate burial mound, built 500 years before the pyramids and 1,000 years before Stonehenge, is arguably the world's oldest astronomical observatory.
What artefacts were found in Newgrange?
Some artefacts from Newgrange Indeed, several of the finds, namely the bone and antler mushroom-headed pins and the stone marbles/balls (Figure 4) from the Neolithic context recovered by O'Kelly are also found in assemblages from passage tombs in the Iberian Peninsula (Herity 1974).
Why is there a pyramid in the Neale?
One such story is that Lord Kilmaine was anxious to find a way of relieving the extreme poverty of his tenants in the post famine years, so he employed men to pick up the stones around the estate. He had those stones piled up and built into a pyramid. This provided the poor people with a little additional income.