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FourWinds F
FourWinds Dec 21, 2004 07:57:29
Replying to follow that cow

Hi ftc

I never let the chance go by to remind people that the oldest known structure in Europe is at Carrowmore :-)

The main thing is that I am the only regular contributor here from Ireland, so it rearly gets a mention. I have loads of bits on it here: http://www.megalithomania.com/show/site/841 . One day I'll get together with the TMA Eds and sort out the individual monuments at Carrowmore on TMA, but at the moment it's a bit untidy :-) [note to self - I must do Loughcrew too]

I took Julian there back in May 2003 for his research for The Megalithic European and it blew his mind! Hence why there's such a big section dedicated to it and Knocknarea in the book. When people who've bought the book have had the chance to visit Ireland I suspect we'll see a lot more about Carrowmore (and Carrowkeel etc) here.

Welcome to TMA!

F follow that cow
follow that cow Dec 22, 2004 00:37:11
Replying to FourWinds

Thanks for the info.
It seems, that like me, everyone who visits Carrowmore is quite literally blown away.
We visited on an afternoon in late July 04, having spent the morning at Carrowkeel(which is an amazing experience in its own right).
We were lucky enough to get a guided tour of the site by one of the onsite archeologists - as we ran to join up with the small tour group I looked to my left - ----what the f*** is that JCB doing on top of that cairn? - reverse archeology it seems - they are rebuilding the main cairn from the local dry stane dykes that were built from stone stolen from the original structure - "Is this quite cosher archeology", I asked our guide. "Oh, yeh. These stones have moved all over these fields during the last eight thousand years or so. So, bearing that in mind, we're just continuing the tradition."
I wish I had taken notes, as the whole experience of our visit was quite overwhelming and with the presence of farms(old and new), wandering livestock, houses being built, lack of signage/information and JCB's on chambered cairns, perhaps even verged on the absurd.
Particular information that has stuck with me is that,
it is reckoned that the megalith builders would only have needed to do a 20-25 hour week to survive due to the richness of Sligo (seashell) Bay. Rest of time was devoted to...well....doing other things... such as messing about with vast quantities of stone.
In The Megalithic European pp 280-281, Julian places Knocknarea as the central point, but the on site archeologist was quite convinced that the chambered cairn
'a la JCB' was the focus for the whole of this area. He pointed out a whole array of alignments,from barely visible cairns in the distant mountains, to Maeves Tomb on Knocknarea, all seemed to be aligned with this cairn.

Lastly he pointed out that the two dolmen, that don't seem to fit into any category, may have been placed to act as kind of 'triumphal archway' welcoming visitors into the sacred ground.

Anyway, for anyone and everyone with even a passing interest in this subject Carrowmore is a MUST.

I hope to return this summer, and armed with Julian's new book and FourWinds excellent website, I hope to get a lot more from my visit.

F follow that cow
follow that cow Dec 22, 2004 00:37:11
Replying to FourWinds

Thanks for the info.
It seems, that like me, everyone who visits Carrowmore is quite literally blown away.
We visited on an afternoon in late July 04, having spent the morning at Carrowkeel(which is an amazing experience in its own right).
We were lucky enough to get a guided tour of the site by one of the onsite archeologists - as we ran to join up with the small tour group I looked to my left - ----what the f*** is that JCB doing on top of that cairn? - reverse archeology it seems - they are rebuilding the main cairn from the local dry stane dykes that were built from stone stolen from the original structure - "Is this quite cosher archeology", I asked our guide. "Oh, yeh. These stones have moved all over these fields during the last eight thousand years or so. So, bearing that in mind, we're just continuing the tradition."
I wish I had taken notes, as the whole experience of our visit was quite overwhelming and with the presence of farms(old and new), wandering livestock, houses being built, lack of signage/information and JCB's on chambered cairns, perhaps even verged on the absurd.
Particular information that has stuck with me is that,
it is reckoned that the megalith builders would only have needed to do a 20-25 hour week to survive due to the richness of Sligo (seashell) Bay. Rest of time was devoted to...well....doing other things... such as messing about with vast quantities of stone.
In The Megalithic European pp 280-281, Julian places Knocknarea as the central point, but the on site archeologist was quite convinced that the chambered cairn
'a la JCB' was the focus for the whole of this area. He pointed out a whole array of alignments,from barely visible cairns in the distant mountains, to Maeves Tomb on Knocknarea, all seemed to be aligned with this cairn.

Lastly he pointed out that the two dolmen, that don't seem to fit into any category, may have been placed to act as kind of 'triumphal archway' welcoming visitors into the sacred ground.

Anyway, for anyone and everyone with even a passing interest in this subject Carrowmore is a MUST.

I hope to return this summer, and armed with Julian's new book and FourWinds excellent website, I hope to get a lot more from my visit.

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