Knowth in the context of "Brú na Bóinne"

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⭐ Core Definition: Knowth

Knowth (/ˈnaʊθ/; Irish: Cnóbha) is a prehistoric tomb overlooking the River Boyne in County Meath, Ireland. It comprises a large passage tomb surrounded by 17 smaller tombs, built during the Neolithic era around 3200 BC. It contains the largest assemblage of megalithic art in Europe. Knowth is part of the Brú na Bóinne complex, a World Heritage Site that also includes the similar passage tombs of Newgrange and Dowth.

After its initial period of use, Knowth gradually became a ruin, although the area continued to be a site of ritual activity in the Bronze Age. During the early Middle Ages, a royal residence was built on top of the great mound, which became the seat of the Kings of Knowth or Northern Brega. Archaeologist George Eogan led an extensive investigation of the site from the 1960s to 1980s, and parts of the monument were reconstructed.

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👉 Knowth in the context of Brú na Bóinne

Brú na Bóinne (Irish: [ˈbˠɾˠuː n̪ˠə ˈbˠoːn̠ʲə], "mansion or palace of the Boyne"), also called the Boyne Valley tombs, is an ancient monument complex and ritual landscape in County Meath, Ireland, located in a bend of the River Boyne. It is one of the world's most important Neolithic landscapes, comprising at least ninety monuments including passage tombs, burial mounds, standing stones and enclosures. The site is dominated by the passage tombs of Newgrange (Sí an Bhrú), Knowth (Cnogbha) and Dowth (Dubhadh), built during the 32nd century BC. Together these have the largest assemblage of megalithic art in Europe. The associated archaeological culture is called the "Boyne culture".

Brú na Bóinne is also an important archaeoastronomical site; several of the passage tombs are aligned with the winter solstice and equinoxes. The area continued to be a site of ritual and ceremonial activity in the later Bronze Age and Iron Age. In Irish mythology, the tombs are said to be portals to the Otherworld and dwellings of the deities, particularly The Dagda and his son Aengus. They began to be studied by antiquarians in the 18th century, and archaeological excavations began in the 20th century, when some of the passage tombs underwent restoration.

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Knowth in the context of River Boyne

The River Boyne (Irish: An Bhóinn or Abhainn na Bóinne) is a river which flows through Leinster, Ireland. The course of the river is about 112 kilometres (70 mi) long. It rises at Eidenderry, near Offaly and flows north-east through County Offaly, County Kildare, and County Meath to reach the Irish Sea between Mornington, County Meath, and Baltray, County Louth.

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Knowth in the context of Newgrange

Newgrange (Irish: Sí an Bhrú) is a prehistoric monument in County Meath in Ireland, placed on a rise overlooking the River Boyne, eight kilometres (five miles) west of the town of Drogheda. It is an exceptionally grand passage tomb built during the Neolithic Period, around 3100 BC, making it older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids. Newgrange is the main monument in the Brú na Bóinne complex, a World Heritage Site that also includes the passage tombs of Knowth and Dowth, as well as other henges, burial mounds and standing stones.

Newgrange consists of a large circular mound with an inner stone passageway and cruciform chamber. Burnt and unburnt human bones, and possible grave goods or votive offerings, were found in this chamber. The monument has a striking façade made mostly of white quartz cobblestones, and it is ringed by engraved kerbstones. Many of the larger stones of Newgrange are covered in megalithic art. The mound is also ringed by a stone circle. Some of the material that makes up the monument came from as far as the Mournes and Wicklow Mountains. There is no agreement about its purpose, but it is believed it had religious significance. It is aligned so that the rising sun on the winter solstice shines through a "roofbox" above the entrance and floods the inner chamber. Several other passage tombs in Ireland are aligned with solstices and equinoxes, and Cairn G at Carrowkeel has a similar "roofbox". Newgrange shares similarities with some other Neolithic monuments in Western Europe; especially Gavrinis in Brittany, which has a similar preserved facing and large carved stones, Maeshowe in Orkney, with its large corbelled chamber, and Bryn Celli Ddu in Wales.

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LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← River Boyne ← Newgrange ← Brú na Bóinne
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Irish language → River Boyne → County Meath → Republic of Ireland → Passage tomb → Neolithic Europe → Megalithic art → Brú na Bóinne → World Heritage Site → Newgrange → Dowth → Bronze Age Ireland → Early Medieval Ireland → Kings of Brega → George Eogan →