Today We Go Way Back October 12, 2006

We made our last tour stop today in Ireland at Newgrange. This is the site of one of the most important passage tombs in Europe. This is a mound grave with a passage to the burial chamber that is illuminated for seventeen minutes during the winter solstice around December 21. The passage to the burial chamber is 19 meters (62 feet) long and barely wide enough in spots for me to get through, so the alignment is precise. The chamber is only about a third of the way into the mound which makes the mound almost two hundred feet in circumference. With a height of 10 meters (about 33 feet) and sitting on a hill it is an impressive sight. The chamber is built of stones that are laid on top of each other to form a domed shaped room. This was done without the aid of any mortar or cement and yet has remained dry for almost 5000 years. The dome was covered and surrounded by layers of rock and sod until the mound was complete. What makes this site impressive is that it has been carbon dated to about 3200 BC which makes this older about 1000 years older than Stonehenge and 600 years older than the pyramids at Giza. It was built by Neolithic people that had neither metal tools nor the wheel. Some of the stones used weigh up to ten tons. How they built it is just one of the mysteries as the purpose for building it is also unknown.

The highlight of the tour was being able to go into the chamber through the narrow passage way where I and my 19 fellow tomb crawlers listened as the guide described the construction and restoration of the mound. According to the guide the chamber itself was not restored but is as it was 5000 years ago. She then demonstrated through the magic of effect lighting how the solstice sunlight finds it way into the chamber. It was a moving experience.

To anyone interested I would suggest looking at the Newgrange website http://www.knowth.com/newgrange.htm , or which is easily found through Google. They also hold a lottery every year in which 50 entries are selected to go into the chamber during the solstice to see the sun enter the chamber. You do not have to go there to enter, but be forewarned they receive about twenty thousand entries a year. Holly and I are entered for the 2007 drawing.

After our journey back in time we drove to our hotel which is a couple of miles from the Dublin airport. We’re packing, we seem to always be packing, tonight because tomorrow we leave for Paris.