County: Meath Site name: NEWGRANGE
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: —
Author: Prof. M. J. O’Kelly, Department of Archaeology, University College, Cork.
Site type: Passage Grave Cemetery
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 700679m, N 772746m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.694707, -6.475488
Hopes of completing the present phase of excavation in 1974 were defeated by the bad weather.
The 1974 work at Site Z enabled us to extend the excavation to the south-east to reveal fully the stone marking the entrance to the passage, as well as the kerb stones on either side of the entrance stone and the sockets of others completely destroyed or removed. The entrance stone was a slab of limestone, the only occurrence of this material in the kerb of Site Z. Due to the effect of weathering in the damp soil, the surface of the slab had decayed to a white powdery condition which made the slab particularly noticeable when compared with the other surviving kerbstones. No ornament was visible on the entrance stone, but there was no reason to think that weathering had removed a pre-existing ornament. The whiteness of the slab suggests that it was deliberately selected for this important position.
Continued investigation inside the kerb in the south-east enabled us to find the outermost end of the passage marked by the sockets of the orthostats. The stones themselves had been pulled out and broken up.
Part of the investigation in this area concerned itself with the manner in which the soil had been cultivated. It became clear that a ridge-and-furrow method of tillage had been used and that pebble-studded wooden ploughs had been used. The evidence for the ploughs was the finding of the typically worn pebbles, some of which must have dropped out of the plough-soles in the course of use.
In cutting 27W, the yellow boulder-clay bank was again in evidence. This feature was first encountered several seasons ago just west of the entrance to the tomb. In the succeeding seasons it has been followed westward and on the 1974 evidence, it continues beyond our present excavated area. Where we have been able to study it best, we have found that Beaker material lies on it and under it. We have also found several pits and holes and burnt-soil areas associated with it and it is hoped that our detailed recording of all these features will enable us to understand the presence of the bank and its relationship to the Beaker activity on the site. The 1975 work will be directed towards this end.
