Beaghmore is a complex of early

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

megalith A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. More than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging geographically f ...

ic features,

stone circle A stone circle is a ring of megalithic standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially Stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being ...

s and

cairn A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistory, t ...

s, 8.5 miles north west of

Cookstown, County Tyrone Cookstown (, ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the fourth-largest town in the county and had a population of 12,546 in the 2021 census. It, along with Magherafelt and Dungannon, is one of the main towns in the Mid-Ulster c ...

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 Repub ...

, on the south-east edge of the

Sperrin Mountains The Sperrins or Sperrin Mountains () are a mountain range in Northern Ireland. The range stretches from Strabane and Mullaghcarn in the west, to Slieve Gallion and the Glenshane Pass in the east, in the counties of Tyrone and Londonderry. ...

. Mackay's ''Dictionary of Ulster Place-names'' says that it is from Irish ''an Bheitheach Mhór'', meaning "big place of birch trees", a name that reflects the fact that the area was a woodland before being cleared by

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 Revo ...

farmers. Beaghmore stone circles, alignments and cairns are State Care Historic Monuments in the

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

of Beaghmore, in the

Cookstown District Council Cookstown District Council (; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster Scots: ''Districk Cooncil o Cookestoun'') was a district council covering an area largely in County Tyrone and partly in County Londonderry. It merged with Dungannon and South Tyrone B ...

area, grid ref: Area of H684 842. At Beaghmore a cairn (grid ref: H6872 8470), a cairn (grid ref: H6856 8472), stone circles, alignments and cairns (grid ref: area of H684 842), round cairn with standing stones: Bradley's Cairn (grid ref: H6830 8401) and cairn and alignment (grid ref: H6863 8431), are all Scheduled Historic Monuments.

Excavation

The site was discovered by

George Barnett George Barnett (December 9, 1859April 27, 1930) was the 12th Commandant of the United States Marine Corps, Commandant of the United States Marine Corps. He was a pioneer of amphibious warfare and the U.S. Marine Commandant during American involv ...

in the late 1930s during

peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...

cutting when 1,269 stones were uncovered, and partially excavated in 1945–1949 when it was taken into state care. It was also excavated again in 1965. Hearths and deposits of flint tools were discovered and have been carbon dated to 2900-2600BC. Several of the stone rows run over the tumbled walls of field structures which also date from the Neolithic period. Excavation of one of the cairns revealed a polished

porcellanite Porcellanite or ''porcelanite'', is a hard, dense rock somewhat similar in appearance to unglazed porcelain. It is often an impure variety of chert containing clay and calcareous matter. Locations where Porcellanite has been found include Nort ...

axe, which may have originated from the

Tievebulliagh Tievebulliagh () is a mountain in the Glens of Antrim, Northern Ireland. It forms part of the watershed between Glenaan to the north and Glenballyemon to the south. It is situated about 4.4 km from Cushendall. Geology Tievebulliagh is ...

axe factory, some 70 miles away in

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

. The largest cairn featured a central pit containing an oak branch.

Features

There are seven low stone circles of different sizes, six of which are paired, twelve cairns and ten

stone row A stone row or stone alignment is a linear arrangement of megalithic standing stones set at intervals along a common axis or series of axes, usually dating from the later Neolithic or Bronze Age.Power (1997), p.23 Rows may be individual or groupe ...

s. The circles are between 10 and 20m in diameter, and are associated with earlier burial cairns and alignments of stone rows lead towards them. The stones are small with few more than 0.5m in height and the circles are distorted, suggesting they are related to

kerb A curb (American English) or kerb (British English) is the edge where a raised sidewalk/pavement or road median/central reservation meets a street/other roadway. History Although curbs have been used throughout modern history, and indeed ...

s surrounding some

megalithic tomb A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. More than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging geographically f ...

s. A typical feature of the stone rows is a high and low arrangement where short rows of tall stones run beside much longer rows of small stones. The stone rows radiate from the circles in a roughly north-east direction.

Function

Excavation has revealed that the site overlays a Neolithic cultivation site, and it is thought that the stones may have been erected in response to deteriorating soil fertility and the encroachment of peat. Another theory states that Beaghmore was a large ceremonial site and was constructed between 1500 and 800 BC.

References

Sources

* McNally, Kenneth (2006). "Ireland's Ancient Stones" (Belfast: Appletree Press).

External links