Re: Megalithic Art | Forum — The Modern Antiquarian

Megalithic Art

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Annexus Quam Mar 30, 2003 11:27:46

Replying to fitzcoraldo

Thanks Fitz, I knew you'd come up with something good. I've seen the link, I look forward to the rest of the information! I'm also trying to establish links with earlier art with which I know there's a link!! Like the ochre used by those earlier humans, it was still used to paint objects and orthostats within passage graves afterwards. Let me know when Stan's book becomes a database (on the web I guess?).

Question: have any idols ever been found at the entrances of Irish passage graves or is there any evidence ? You know the ones, rough decorated stones that have a particularly human shape. They used to do that in ancient Japan too, even the early Romans kept little statues of their ancestors.

fitzcoraldo Mar 30, 2003 22:06:42

Replying to Annexus Quam

There is a debate in the Rock art world around whether or not British abstract art predates passage grave art.
Therefore if this was the case, abstract art could be your link to the cave art of the paleaolithic.
Of course different cultures develop different forms of expression of their beliefs.
Our ancestors seemed to have gone down the road of abstract symbols, but then I am applying a modern view point to something I haven't a hope of fully understanding. I see British prehistoric rock art as a lost language which I don't think we will ever truely recover.
As for sculptured artifacts, they are extremely rare ( I won't say none existant because I don't know that as a fact) but my personal theory is that everything that these people wanted to express about their beliefs was done through altering the landscape using earth, stone and wood with the circle as the key to everything.
Today I was fortunate enough to visit a reconstructed henge monument (Maelmin in Northumbria), we were shown around the henge by the archaeologist, Clive Waddington, who had built it based upon a nearby excavated henge. One thing that struck me was the carving of the timber posts to resemble totems, there was no evidence that this had been done on the original but it definitely 'felt right'.

FourWinds Mar 30, 2003 23:16:01

Replying to Annexus Quam

Well, they did find these at Knowth

http://www.megalithomania.com/show_site.php?site_id=0&image=1052

The inset is an extremely phallic thing. It was discovered at the entrance to one of the passages in an oval setting of quartz stones.

There was a broken, plain version of this found in a similar position at Newgrange.

At a few Irish sites some tablets similar to the Iberian ones have been found, but surprisingly they are more associated with court tombs, which predate passage tombs .... hhhmmm

It has been suggested that the tombs at Carrowkeel could have been painted. There has never been any proof found of this, but the theory was proposed because the limstone there is totally unsuited to carved decoration. Jury's out on that one.

Personally I like the Mr & Mrs Stone outside the one passage at Knowth ... seen here being propostitioned my one Holy McGrail <cough>

http://www.megalithomania.com/show_site.php?site_id=0&image=1054