May 26 2009
Loughcrew Passage Tomb Video
You may remember from an earlier post that Michael from knowth.com has produced a stunning video featuring Loughcrew in County Meath, Ireland. . He has now produced an extended version of the video with music, which captures the sanctity and ambiance of these ancient tombs.
Michael’s Videos allow us to touch the lives of our ancestors and their world for just a few minutes however far away we maybe from the sacred sites of our forebears.
Loughcrew (Irish: Loch Craobh) is near Oldcastle, County Meath, Ireland. (Sometimes written Lough Crew). Loughcrew is a site of considerable historical importance in Ireland. It is the site of megalithic burial grounds dating back to approximately 3500 and 3300 BC, situated near the summit of Sliabh na Caillí Lough Crew Passage Tomb Cemetery is one of the big four passage tomb sites in Ireland (the others are Bru na Boinne, Carrowkeel and Carrowmore).
They are thought to date from about 3300 BC. The sites consist of cruciform chambers covered in most instances by a mound. A unique style of megalithic petroglyphs are seen there, including lozenge shapes, leaf shapes as well as circles. The site has three parts, two are on hilltops, Carnbane East and Carnbane West. The other, less well preserved cairn is at Patrickstown. The Irish name for the site is Sliabh na Calliagh, which means mountains of the witch, and legend has it that the monuments were created when a witch flying overhead dropped her cargo of large stones from her apron. The orthostats and structural stones of the monuments tend to be from local green gritstone, which was soft enough to carve, but which is also vulnerable to vandalism. There is a widespread belief that Cairn T in Carnbane East is directed to receive the beams of the sun at sunrise on the autumn Equinox – with light entering and illuminating the art on the backstone.
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For more information about Loughcrew please visit here
