Stephen Labarge
History of Newgrange
New Grange is the earliest and most well-known passage tomb in all of Ireland. It is located near Slane in County Meath at the bend of the River Boyne. The actual dates of the tomb vary. Radiocarbon dates give a range near 2500 BC or 3200 BC. This predates both Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids. New Grange was occupied during the late Neolithic and the Beaker period by British settlers. Newgrange is a large kidney shaped mound covering an area of over one acre, retained at the base by 97 kerbstones, some of which are richly decorated with megalithic art.
http://www.bamjam.net/Ireland/Newgr.html http://www.bamjam.net/Ireland/Newgr.html
Astronomical Use
Once a year, at the time of the winter solstice the light of the rising sun enters the roofbox, which is directly above the entrance, at Newgrange and penetrates the passage, shining onto the floor of the inner chamber. The sunbeam illuminates the chamber of Newgrange for just 17 minutes. Although solar alignments are not uncommon among passage graves, Newgrange is the only one known to contain the additional roofbox feature. The alignment with the sun is too precise to have occurred by chance. A survey of the roofbox, passage and chamber of Newgrange by Dr. Jon Patrick in 1972 found that the Winter Solstice orientation of the site was an original feature, and that they were sophisticated constructions, intended to maximize the accuracy and length of the beam entering the chamber. In our day, this phenomenon occurs only after a delay of four minutes from sunrise, but calculations of the precession of the Earth show that when it was built, the event would have occurred right at sunrise.
Works Cited
http://newgrange.com/
http://www.mythicalireland.com/ancientsites/newgrange/
http://www.bamjam.net/Ireland/Newgr.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newgrange
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