Newgrange itself...

After Knowth, Newgrange itself. The approach from the bus stop is impressive. Click here to read about the site - I'm going to stick with what isn't covered in the link - and check out the other links at the end of the page too. In the tradition of my travel photos, the site appears almost deserted... actually, there were at least two main tour groups there at the time, so more than 50 people on the site. It just looks empty. We were timed for the entrance to the passage and split into two groups (about 18 in each I think), which added to the sense of occasion.


The slate walls in the image above are modern, added to enable access to the passage more easily for visitors and made from machine cut slate, so future generations will easily identify them as later additions. The stone at the threshold echoes the famous triple spiral inside the tomb while the 'lightbox' which illuminates the passage at dawn from the 19th to the 23rd December each year is the window like aperture above the passage entrance.

No photography is allowed inside, but you can get a good impression of how it looks from the photos on the Newgrange site. I stood next to the alcove on the right hand side - there's an illustration of it here, by Sally McKenna. I made a quick sketch of some of the pattern details, which are probably easier to see in her artwork than in photos. The roof structure, with overlapping slabs (click photo below to go to http://www.mesacc.edu/~tomshoemaker/celtic/slides.html and go down the right hand menu for 'mounds/chambers'), immediately suggested a irregular Log Cabin block. Although the guide maintained that the roof hadn't leaked, we could see leaching on the stones. 'Interior 2' on the same website shows the narrowness of the passage, which wasn't as bad as I expected. It was also, curiously, no more claustrophobic than being in a room with quite a few people.


A few more interior image links -
Lit with candles
Information about Michael J. O'Kelly, who excavated Newgrange - scroll to bottom of page for an excellent image (plus read all about the archaeology)

"It therefore seems that the sun has shone into the chamber ever since the day of its construction and will probably continue to do so for ever." Dr Jon Patrick

Kerbstone designs -


The carvings are in shallow relief -


We were discussing how the original designs were drawn out, and it made me go back to a discussion at one of the quilting sessions over the weekend - how quilters used the width of a finger or thumb as a measure for parallel lines. Seems to fit here too. The patterns have a human scale - the width of a thumb, the width of a finger, a hand span etc. I think we should mark up a wholecloth this way.


EDIT - Marks made by the width of the fingers in prehistoric art are covered in this BBC article from 30/9/11. A very interesting link - please read.
While waiting for the bus, we 'drew' a double spiral in the gravel, simply working in two lines from the outside of a rough circle.


As we left the site, the resident moggy mouse patrol appeared at the kiosk. He is clearly the current 'owner' of Newgrange and a bit of a sun worshipper himself.


It was a shame the bookshop at the visitor centre was closed for stocktaking, although it looks like there's plenty of books on the website (with Amazon links) - will have a look at these later. 'Newgrange Speaks for Itself' is already on my wishlist.

Looking back from the visitor centre path - Newgrange is on the central horizon - an amazing day.

Di Pattison's exhibition at Brú na Bóinne

While we were waiting for the first bus to take us to Knowth, we saw Di Pattison's exhibition 'Earthworks' at Brú na Bóinne visitor centre. Just our kind of thing. Some were based on aerial views and plans of sites (including Knowth, above), which instantly appealed to our mapping instincts and interest in ancient sites, and she uses natural pigments harvested from the earth around the British Isles to make her paints. So her paintings have a fabulous colour palette, totally natural and very addictive, which seem to link the subject matter straight back into the landscape. I was hooked.

You can see a better image of the Knowth painting and read about it on Di's website here. By the way, the cross shaped heads in the tomb chambers are nothing to do with Christianity, as the tomb dates from over 2000 years before that. I like her comment -

I tried in this painting to convey the sense that to an archaeologist the soil, regarded as just dirt by most people, is rich with evidence helping us understand our ancestors’ lives and beliefs.


Unfortunately I didn't manage to get a catalogue (as mentioned on the exhibition poster above) as the bookstall was closed for stocktaking, so I got in touch with Di today and she kindly gave me permission to show some images from the exhibition on my blog. The exhibition continues until 12th October and I'd highly recommend it, as the photos here don't really do justice to her work, which is incredibly tactile and really needs to be seen in person.

Here's the info about the paints and how she creates them (click to enlarge and read) -


Many well-known sites around the British Isles were included, not only sites in Ireland. This aerial view of Arbor Low in Derbyshire was quite magical.


Some of the paintings were available as limited edition prints too (the print version of the painting above is on the right).


There are better images of many of these on Di's website gallery. She is based near Cambridge and her contact details are here (I spotted that she has an 'open studio' weekend events in July and December, so that would be worth checking for dates). I'll be looking out for her work in future.

EDIT 5/10/11 - for more interesting art inspired by ancient designs, keep an eye on Sally Westcott's blog (listed on the right in my bloglist). She's just told me this -

I'm creating a series of petrogylph quilts (12 x 12) at the moment and New Grange is in my scope... I will let you know when the series is complete - two down two to go!... I'm off to Houston for the International Quilt Festival - I have two quilts in the Jewel Pearson Scholarship Exhibition! So exciting!

It is!

Newgrange - Knowth - stones

I'll start this post off with info panels about the stones from the main exhibition at Brú na Bóinne Visitors Centre. This was an excellent presentation about the history of the sites and life in the area contemporary with the building of the tombs. While I could nit pick about some of the assumptions made about the social structure of megalithic society (e.g. what looked like a modern 'nuclear family' depicted living in the hut illustration) it was nevertheless fascinating. I would agree with the suggestion made by the booking desk staff - unless you have a long wait for the bus tour (we didn't), save the exhibition till the end because you'll get more out of it once you've had the guided tours to the sites.


I started this post with the above images because the stones are more strongly lit, displaying their carving far better than they do under normal light conditions in my photos on site. Most of the designs have quite shallow relief. The info panel below gives a wonderful collection of the various spirals and geometric arrangements.


Now for some of the stones themselves - Knowth (some of those above are from Newgrange) -

The second stone from the right is the one with the 'sundail/calendar' design (the last of the exhibition photos above). The mixture of rough quartz lumps and smoothed granite pebbles creates a fascinating texture.



Sprials and concentric circles -


'Snakes' -

Newgrange - Knowth

Last Tuesday we went up to Newgrange, to see the megalithic passage tombs. Starting at the Brú na Bóinne Visitors Centre, we boarded a bus first of all for Knowth.

We arrived about 11, which was OK for getting onto the bus tour at this time of year, although in the summer holidays you'd probably need to arrive a bit earlier. By bus is the only way to see Newgrange and the best way to get to Knowth (there is a car park there but with big warning signs about theft from parked vehicles). Tip - don't believe the description of the bus interchange being 'just over the bridge' - it is a decent walk to the pick up point at Brú na Bóinne, so don't leave it as late as we did! Also, don't listen to other people in the tour group when they point out that you are wearing the 'wrong' tour time label and should wait for the next group going over the bridge - some stupid woman visitor did that to me and we nearly ended up missing our bus thanks to her interference! There is a fair amount of swapping of passengers from one bus to another going on, all coordinated by coloured stickers on the visitors, which the bus drivers need to be able to see (and you must keep your tickets for site admission).

I can't beat this virtual tour info, so click the link and I'll just stick to photos! Next post will feature images of the carved kerbstones all around the edge of the mound. The 'overhang' is a modern addition, to protect the stones.


Souterrain -


Inside - the main passage. There's no public access along this, but Glyn got a decent photo through the gate.


Side passage (my photo) -


Info panels - these are displayed in a small modern chamber at the start of the passage. Click photos to enlarge images and read the info.


Stones next. Click panorama to view at full size.