Excavations, which have been in progress since 1962, have shown that this site was used for burial and occupation during four main phases :

knowth_four.jpg (6366 bytes)

1.  Neolithic (c.3000 - 2000 B.C.)

There is some evidence for occupation during this period but the main features mainly consist of a cemetery of up to twenty passage tombs. These were used for communal burial. The rite was cremation. Grave goods such as pottery, beads, bone pins and pendants, were often placed with the remains. The principal site is a huge mound, almost circular, covering an acre and a half. This is mainly made from loose stones and it has a delimiting kerb of large stones. It covers two long passages leading to burial chambers which were placed back to back. The entrance to one is from the west and it is about 34 metres (114 feet) long; the other is over 40 metres (130 feet) long and has an impressive corbelled roof to the chamber which is about 6 metres (20 feet) high. The other passage tombs average 14 metres (45 feet) in diameter and occur close to the big mound.

knowth_one.jpg (9215 bytes)

2. "Beaker" Period (c. 2000- 1800 B.C)

This stage is represented by four areas of habitation which consists of pits, fireplaces and occupation debris. All produced on excavation, a large quantity of flint artifacts and shards of pottery.

knowth_two.jpg (31203 bytes)

3.  Iron Age - Early Christian
    (c. 1st Century - 12th Century A.D.)

The earliest features are inhumation burials in pits and often accompanied by grave goods such as glass and bone beads, bronze rings and other objects. These date from the early centuries A.D. About the same time Knowth was transformed into a defended settlement by enclosing the summit and base of the large mound with deep ditches. From about the 8th century A. D. there was a considerable expansion in settlement; many rectangular houses and souterrains were constructed. The inhabitants were self-sufficient. They cultivated grain crops and kept domestic animals especially cattle, sheep and pigs. Specialised industrial activities, such as iron smelting and bronze-working were also carried out. The inhabitants had a wide range of artifacts such as tools, personal ornaments and toilet articles. Historical sources suggest that at this time Knowth was the royal residence of the Kings of Brega.

knowth_three.jpg (11221 bytes)

4. Norman (c. late 12th - early 14th century A.D.)

At the end of the 12th Century the Normans took over the site. They constructed a rectangular stone structure on the top of the large mound. A range of Norman artifacts, the most common being glazed pottery, was found on the site.

haircut mound.jpg (14906 bytes)

 

knowth_enter.jpg (12900 bytes)
Entrance

 

dome_knowth.jpg (10644 bytes)

Domed Roof  Eastern Chamber

"The Megalith Builders Euan Mackie"

 

 

 

stone_basin_knowth.jpg (13066 bytes)
Stone Basin

Picture reproduced from "Great Archaeologists" Edward Bacon

 

Recent Discovery at Knowth

_325290_moon300.jpg (4705 bytes)

A map of the Moon 10 times older than anything known before has been found carved into stone at one of Ireland's most ancient and mysterious Neolithic sites.

It has been identified by Dr Philip Stooke of the University of Western Ontario in Canada. He spends most of his time preparing maps of asteroids based on spacecraft observations, but he has also prepared detailed maps of the Moon.

What puzzled him greatly was that there was no recorded map of the moon older than about 500 years. "I simply could not believe this," he told BBC News Online. "I felt there just had to be an older map somewhere."

The above text is extracted from BBC Online Network @   Moon_map_but.gif (1235 bytes)

Text reproduced without permission from Brochure "Knowth, Co. Meath. (The Office of Public Works)