Ballykeel Dolmen
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Ballykeel Dolmen
Ballykeel Dolmen is a Neolithic tripod portal tomb and a State Care Historic Monument at the foot of the western flank of Slieve Gullion in Northern Ireland. It is located above a tributary of the Forkhill river, in the Newry, Mourne and Down District Council area, at grid ref: H9950 2132. The dolmen sits at the southern end of a large cairn, of approximately 30x10 metres, the north end of which also contains a cist. Its three metre long capstone, with a notable notch similar to that of Legananny Dolmen, had previously fallen, but was re-set during excavations in 1963. The granite capstone is balanced on the tips of the three Megalithic architectural elements, portal stones. Excavations of the chamber revealed different types of pottery, including three highly decorated "Ballyalton" bowls, and the cist contained several hundred sherds of Neolithic pottery, a javelin head, and three flint flakes. High levels of phosphates found in the chambers floor is an indication of ancient ...
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Neolithic
The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts of the world. This "Neolithic package" included the History of agriculture, introduction of farming, domestication of animals, and change from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to one of sedentism, settlement. The term 'Neolithic' was coined by John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury, Sir John Lubbock in 1865 as a refinement of the three-age system. The Neolithic began about 12,000 years ago, when farming appeared in the Epipalaeolithic Near East and Mesopotamia, and later in other parts of the world. It lasted in the Near East until the transitional period of the Chalcolithic (Copper Age) from about 6,500 years ago (4500 BCE), marked by the development ...
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Portal Tomb
A dolmen, () or portal tomb, is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the Late Neolithic period (40003000 BCE) and were sometimes covered with earth or smaller stones to form a tumulus (burial mound). Small pad-stones may be wedged between the cap and supporting stones to achieve a level appearance. In many instances, the covering has eroded away, leaving only the stone "skeleton". In Sumba (Indonesia), dolmens are still commonly built (about 100 dolmens each year) for collective graves according to lineage. The traditional village of Wainyapu has some 1,400 dolmens. Etymology Celtic or French The word ''dolmen'' entered archaeology when Théophile Corret de la Tour d'Auvergne used it to describe megalithic tombs in his (1796) using the spelling ''dolmin'' (the current spelling was introduced about a decade later and had become standard in French ...
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Slieve Gullion
Slieve Gullion ( or ''Sliabh Cuilinn'', "Culann's mountain") is a mountain in the south of County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The mountain is the heart of the Ring of Gullion and is the List of Irish counties by highest point, highest point in the county, with an elevation of . At the summit is a small lake and two ancient cairn, burial cairns, one of which is the highest surviving passage grave in Ireland. Slieve Gullion appears in Irish mythology, where it is associated with the Cailleach and the heroes Fionn mac Cumhaill and Cú Chulainn. It dominates the countryside around it, offering views as far away as County Antrim, Dublin Bay and County Wicklow on a clear day. Slieve Gullion Forest Park is on its eastern slope. Villages around Slieve Gullion include Meigh, Drumintee, Forkhill, Mullaghbawn and Lislea. The mountain gives its name to the surrounding countryside, and is the name of an electoral area within Newry, Mourne and Down District Council. Geography Slieve Gullion ...
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Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, an open border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, its population was 1,903,175, making up around 3% of the Demographics of the United Kingdom#Population, UK's population and 27% of the population on the island of Ireland#Demographics, Ireland. The Northern Ireland Assembly, established by the Northern Ireland Act 1998, holds responsibility for a range of Devolution, devolved policy matters, while other areas are reserved for the Government of the United Kingdom, UK Government. The government of Northern Ireland cooperates with the government of Ireland in several areas under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. The Republic of Ireland ...
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Newry, Mourne And Down District Council
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council (Irish language, Irish: ''Comhairle Ceantair an Iúir, Mhúrn agus an Dúin'') is a local authority in Northern Ireland that was established on 1 April 2015. It replaces Down District Council and Newry and Mourne District Council and covers most of the Newry, Mourne and Down, southeast of Northern Ireland. The first elections to the authority were on 2014 Northern Ireland local elections, 22 May 2014. At the 2019 Northern Ireland local elections, Sinn Féin became the largest party with 16 seats. This success was continued at the 2023 Northern Ireland local elections, winning 20 seats. Chairpersonship Chairperson Deputy Chairperson Councillors For the purpose of elections the council is divided into seven district electoral areas (DEA): Party strengths Councillors by electoral area † Co-opted to replace an elected councillor Councillor Incidents The Mournes DEA DUP Councillor Glyn Hanna is currently the focus of m ...
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Legananny Dolmen
The Legananny Dolmen is a megalithic dolmen or cromlech nine miles southeast of Banbridge and three miles north of Castlewellan, both in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the slopes of Slieve Croob near the village of Leitrim in Drumgooland parish, between a farmer's stone wall and a back road. It is a State Care Historic Monument sited in the townland of Legananny, in Banbridge District Banbridge was a local government district in Northern Ireland. The district was one of 26 council areas formed on 1 October 1973, following the implementation of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972. The headquarters of the council ..., at grid ref: J2887 4339. This tripod dolmen has a capstone over long and from the ground. It dates to the Neolithic period, making the monument around 5,000 years old. Such portal tombs were funerary sites for the disposal of the dead in Neolithic society. The heavy stones would have been dragged some distance before being set in place ...
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Megalithic Architectural Elements
This article describes several characteristic architectural elements typical of European megalithic (Stone Age) structures. Forecourt In archaeology, a forecourt is the name given to the area in front of certain types of chamber tomb. Forecourts were probably the venue for ritual practices connected with the burial and commemoration of the dead in the past societies that built these types of tombs. In European megalithic architecture, forecourts are curved in plan with the entrance to the tomb at the apex of the open semicircle enclosure that the forecourt creates. The sides were built up by either large upright stones or walls of smaller stones laid atop one another. Some also had paved floors and some had blocking stones erected in front of them to seal the tomb such as at West Kennet Long Barrow. Their shape, which suggests an attempt to focus attention on the tomb itself may mean that they were used ceremonially as a kind of open air auditorium during ceremonies. Excavatio ...
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Ballymacdermott Court Tomb
The Ballymacdermot Court Tomb is a megalithic portal tomb 600 feet up the southern slope of Ballymacdermot Mountain in County Armagh, two miles outside Newry. Ballymacdermott is situated with views of the Mourne Mountains to the east and Slieve Gullion to the west. The site is a scheduled monument in State care. The site dates from between 4000 and 2500 BCE and is located close to other neolithic monuments such as Ballykeel Dolmen and Clontigora Cairn. Excavations The tomb was excavated in 1816 by John Bell of the nearby Killeavy Castle Killeavy Castle is a Grade A listed 19th-century castle in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It was built for the Foxall family between 1810 and 1820 and was later designed to resemble Gosford Castle in Markethill, also in County Armagh. Plans fo ..., in conjunction with the landowner, Jonathon Seavers. They reported to the Newry Magazine that they had found an urn containing pulverized bone fragments. It was again excavated in 1962 by A. E. ...
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County Armagh - Ballykeel Dolmen And Cairn 20230301 From West
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) ''Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoting a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count (earl) or, in his stead, a viscount (''vicomte'').C. W. Onions (Ed.) ''The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology''. Oxford University Press, 1966. Literal equivalents in other languages, derived from the equivalent of "count", are now seldom used officially, including , , , , , , , and Slavic '' zhupa''; terms equivalent to 'commune' or 'community' are now often instead used. When the Normans conquered England, they brought the term with them. Although there were at first no counts, ''vicomtes'' or counties in Anglo-Norman England, the earlier Anglo-Saxons did have earls, sheriffs and shires. The shires were the districts that became the historic counties of England, and given the same Lat ...
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