Art History - Stone Age

Art History - Stone Age

1. 7000-2000BC

   • Portal Dolmen
     • -Poulnabrone, Co.Care. -Kilcloolney, Co.Donegal.
     • Design:
       • 3 large standing stones, which support a large roof stone positioned with its heavier end above the entrance.
     • Used For?
       • Above ground burial chambers
   • Court Cairn
     • - Creevykeel, Co. Silgo
     • U or oval shaped tomb consisting of 2 sections; a Gallery and a Courtyard.
       • The cremated remains of the dead were placed inside the covered Gallery
       • The open courtyard was used for ceremonial purposes.
   • Passage Grave
     • Newgrange, Co.Meath
       • Dates back to 3000BC
       • Structure:
         • 11 meters high and a average of 80 meters in diameters
         • It is made up of thousands of water rolled stones that were collected from the river Boyne.
         • The Passage
           • The long passage is lined on both sides with decorated standing stones known as 'orthosats'
         • Corbelled Roof
           • Slabs are placed on top of each other so that each one partly overlaps the one beneath as they gradually rise in height.
         • Entrance Stone
           • The entrance stone is the most spectacular of the Kerbstones, as it has carvings of a triple spiral , double spirals, ect.
             • Kerbstones
               • there is 97 huge Kerbstones surrounding Newgrange.
       • Tomb consisting of narrow passage leading to a chamber where human remains were buried.
       • Largest megalithic tomb in Ireland.
       • Older than the Pyramids in Egypt or the Stonehenge in England
       • Function:
         • Built as a tomb to hold the cremated remains of the dead, inside the chamber.
         • Above the entrance is a rectangular roofbox and is designed in a way that for a period of time occurring once a year, (the Winter Solstice - 21st Dec) the chamber which is very dark would light up with the dawn sunrise for a period of up to 17 minutes.
           • These builders were very skilled at construction and used their skills to bring the Winter Solstice dawn light to illuminate the remains of thier dead.

2. Neolithic Period

   • 3700-2000 BC
   • New Stone Age
   • Framers arrived in Ireland
   • Made tools made out of stone
   • Housing became more permanent with dwellings of circular and rectangular shapes

3. Mesolithic Period

   • The first human settlers lived by hunting and gathering and settled mostly near riverbanks and lakes.
   • Early housing consisted of animal skins spread over a bowl-shaped timber frame.
   • Middle Stone Age
   • 7000-3700 BC

Images and files in the map