Friday, January 10, 2014

A little bit about Newgrange

I know I have  been lazy with the whole blogging thing the past few weeks, even though I actually enjoy writing about my journeys and other topics I am interested in. There are many situations in everyday life I think to myself „Hey, this is interesting, I got to blog about it". But since a weekly post or two are not an obligation my priorities lie on other things such as studying for a test or making homework and I kept postponing blog-writing. And if I actually happen to have some time for blogging I have already forgotten the topics I wanted to blog about. But now the Semester goes by and I still don´t have written the required 10 blog posts so I have to get my ass up and type like mad. Dead line is the greatest inspiration, isn´t it ?

The other thing I am really concerned with these days is Irish culture and history. I learned a lot about this wonderful green island and its people but one topic that I am really interested in are the Neolithic tombs especially the tombs with astrological intend so I wanted to find out more about the Newgrange and other similar constructions. Here I will add some interesting extra information ;)

* Newgrange was built about 3200 BC which means that it is older than Stonehenge or the Egyptian pyramids
* the stones in front of the entrance are decorated with spirally patterns. Archaeologists have been speculating about its meaning. while some think the spirals are simply decorative others believe that the patterns have some sort of symbolic purpose because some carvings are in places that are not visible such as the bottom of the rock.

How was Newgrange built?

How did the people in ancient Ireland transport rocks weighting tons? Well the stones were probably brought to the Newgrange spot by sea and up the river Boyne by tying them to the underside of boats at low tide. None of the slabs were quarried, they must have been collected, most likely from the Rocky Beach at Clogherhead, about 20 km away, and then somehow transported to the building site.

There are still many mysteries surrounding Newgrange since there is a lot about scientists haven´t found out yet. There are people that think, Newgrange cant have been built by people, so it must have been some kind of god and they see it as evidence for religious forces.


I found an interesting video on YouTube that shows the illumination of the tomb at winter solisle.








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