Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Irish Neolithic Tombs in their Landscape

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy

  • 444 Accesses

Abstract

This case study mainly encompasses the Neolithic tradition of megalithic tomb building in Ireland and outlines a template methodology and framework for a more “holistic” approach to the archaeoastronomical assessment of measured axial orientations and their possible interpretation. Various approaches and the use of relevant analytical tools are described and supported with examples and selected findings.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 1,099.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 1,399.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bayliss A, Mc Cormac G, Van Der Plicht H (2004) An illustrated guide to measuring radiocarbon from archaeological samples. Phys Educ 39(2):137–144

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Bergh S (1995) Landscape of the monuments: a study of the passage tombs in the Cuil Irra region, Co. Sligo, Ireland. Risantikvarieambetet, Stockholm

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradley R (1998) The significance of monuments: on the shaping of human experience in Neolithic and Bronze Age Europe. Routledge, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Brindley AL (1995) Radiocarbon, chronology and the bronze age. In: Waddell J, Twohig ES et al (eds) Ireland in the bronze age: proceedings of the Dublin conference, April 1995. The Stationery Office, Dublin

    Google Scholar 

  • Brindley AL, Lanting JN (1991) Radiocarbon dates from wedge tombs. J Irish Archaeol 6:19–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooney G (2000) Landscapes of neolithic Ireland. Routledge, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooney G, Grogan E (1999) Irish prehistory: a social perspective. Wordwell, Dublin

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooney G, Bayliss A, Healy F, Whittle AWR, Danaher E, Lydia C, Mallory J, Smyth J, Kador T, O’Sullivan M (2011) Ireland. In: Whittle AWR, Healy F et al (eds) Gathering time: dating the early neolithic enclosures of Southern Britain and Ireland. Oxbow Books, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • De Valera R (1960) The court cairns of Ireland. Proc R Irish Acad 60C(2):9–140

    Google Scholar 

  • De Valera R (1965) Transeptal court cairns. J R Soc Antiq Irel 95(1/2):5–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Eogan G (1986) Knowth and the passage-tombs of Ireland. Thames and Hudson, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Herity M (1974) Irish passage graves: neolithic tomb-builders in Ireland and Britain 2500 B.C. Irish University Press, Dublin

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoskin MA (2001) Tombs, temples and their orientations. Ocarina Books, Bognor Regis

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis-Williams JD, Dowson TA (1993) On vision and power in the neolithic: evidence from the decorated monuments. Curr Anthropol 34(1):55–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis-Williams JD, Pearce DG (2005) Inside the Neolithic mind: consciousness, cosmos and the realm of the gods. Thames and Hudson, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Libby WF (1952) Radiocarbon dating. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Ó Nualláin SN (1989) Survey of the megalithic tombs of Ireland, 5th edn. Stationery Office, Dublin

    Google Scholar 

  • Ó Ríordáin SP, De Valera R (1979) Antiquities of the Irish countryside. Routledge, London/New York

    Google Scholar 

  • O’ Brien W (1999) Sacred ground: megalithic tombs in coastal south-west Ireland. Department of Archaeology, National University of Ireland, Galway

    Google Scholar 

  • Otte ML (ed) (2003) Wetlands of Ireland: distribution, ecology, uses and economic value. University College Dublin Press, Dublin

    Google Scholar 

  • Prendergast F (2011) Linked landscapes: spatial, archaeoastronomical and social network analysis of the Irish passage Tomb tradition. Ph.D. thesis, University College Dublin

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas J (1993) The politics of vision and the archaeologies of landscape. In: Bender B (ed) Landscape: politics and perspectives. Berg, Oxford/Providence RI

    Google Scholar 

  • Tilley C (1994) A phenomenology of landscape: places, paths, and monuments. Berg, Oxford/Providence RI

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Spatial Information Sciences, College of Engineering and Built Environment, Dublin Institute of Technology, Bolton Street, Dublin, 1, Ireland

    Frank Prendergast

Authors
  1. Frank Prendergast
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Frank Prendergast .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Archaeology & Ancient History, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom

    Clive L.N. Ruggles

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this entry

Cite this entry

Prendergast, F. (2015). Irish Neolithic Tombs in their Landscape. In: Ruggles, C. (eds) Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6141-8_120

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation