The manpower and organisation behind the construction of these monuments is on a civil scale. The guides at the site tell us that the average human lifetime at that time was only 35 years and they estimate it took 70 years to build, from which we can comfortably deduce that it wasn't built as a tomb...

 

Astronomy - 'The map of the external design plan of the complex (see above) demonstrates a concern with solstices, equinoxes and cross-quarter days' (2). There are 97 kerbstones on Newgrange, and only three of them are fully carved, their astronomical positioning is 'highly significant', and it is the clear from the extra energy involved in creating accurate alignments and orientations that astronomy played a fundamental role in the structures existence.

(More about Archaeoastronomy)

A Cursus 'of unknown length' (3), has been found just east of Newgrange. The cursus is barely visible today but extended around 100 m from the valley of the River Mattock to climb the ridge occupied by the Newgrange tomb. Here it is rounded off by a terminal bank. The cursus was around 20 m wide.

It is similarly orientated to the mid-winter solstice, as is the passage mound itself.

 

     The Boyne-valley complex is intervisible with other prominent megalithic sites such as:         Tara Hill, Loughcrew and Four-knocks.

 

(More about the Boyne Valley Complex)

 

 

• Both Gavr'inis in France and Maes-Howe on the Orkneys (and the Maltese Temples), were built at the same time as (dated at 3,300 - 3,100 BC) as the Boyne Valley complex..

• Newgrange, Gavr'inis and Maes-Howe all had their passages aligned to the winter solstice. (Close to the Moons eastern major standstill).

• The interior floor-level of Gavr'inis and Newgrange were raised towards the centres. At Newgrange, the upwards-sloping passage narrows the beam of light into a thin strip. In fact, the only light that would have originally been able to enter the internal chambers would have come through the 'light-box', above the passage entrance.

• Light-boxes are a megalithic construction feature that have so far only been recorded at three (possibly four) sites in the UK, with two in Ireland (Newgrange and Carrowkeel - see below) both having the same design, and the other two on the Orkneys in Scotland. This particular connection is very specific.

• There are examples of 'spiral-art' at the Boyne-valley which are identical to that found at both Gavr'inis and the Orkneys (and on Malta)

• Stone SE4 at Knowth has a series of crescents running down the side, a design similar to that found on the rear stone inside Le Table des Marchands' passage mound, (nearby and contemporary with Gavr'inis).

• A further connection between the two cultures came from Hencken's excavations of 1935, when a chalk ball was discovered at Creevykeel, which is an item similar to those found in Brittany and on the Orkneys.

• The lintel stone over the light-box at Newgrange (see below), has a series of crosses engraved on it and there is a similar stone on the floor of the Gavr'inis passage mound, and others at Fourknocks in Ireland.

• The Irish Recumbent Stone Circles (RSC's) have been mentioned above. The only other place these particular constructions are found is in Scotland.

(European Neolithic Complexes)

Only 8 crosses are visible today at Newgrange, but it is likely that there may once have been another, as a section of the front of the lintel appears to have been lost (a detail not visible following the reconstruction). If there was another cross, as the picture (right) suggests, then the total would be the same as the stone at Gavr'inis, which also has nine crosses on it.

(More about light-boxes)

It is only recently that archaeologists are beginning to view individual sites in terms of their place in the overall prehistoric landscape.

 

�The monuments around Tara cannot be viewed in isolation, or as individual sites, but must be seen in the context of an intact archaeological landscape, which should not under any circumstances be disturbed, in terms of visual or direct impact on the monuments themselves�

Ref: (N3 Navan to Dunshaughlin Route Selection, August 2000, paragraph 7.3)
 

Scheduled to open in 2010, the M3's loudest critics concede much of the damage is already done � 38 archaeological sites unearthed during construction thus far have been carved from the landscape. Among the now vanished finds, a newly discovered national monument at Lismullin that one leading archaeologist described as "the wooden equivalent of Stonehenge."

"All these sites, including the monument at Lismullin, were part and parcel of the greater whole that is the Hill of Tara complex and now they are gone, demolished. The damage is complete and irreversible," said Vincent Salafia of Tara Watch. "Some would say, `Give up the fight. The deed is done.' But we're not giving up because what we are most against is the building of the motorway through the valley that is at the heart of the Tara complex. It's a long ways from completion and there is still time to come to our senses.

Ref (http://www.thestar.com/World/Columnist/article/512894)

 

Opponents of the M3 have called on the European Parliament and the European Commission to intervene by asking the Irish government to review its plans and conduct an independent investigation into the highway�s impact on the Tara landscape. Campaigners first approached the commission for help in June 2005. The commission subsequently determined that the road construction violated EU law governing environmental impact assessments; however, it has yet to actually submit a case before the European Court of Justice, and that delay has allowed the Irish government and the Roads Authority to continue construction. On April 2, 2008, campaigners came before the EU Parliament�s petitions committee to resolve the problem. An EU Commission spokesman said the commission would be submitting an application to the court in the coming months; however, he said the commission did not have the authority to halt construction in the interim, as road opponents had hoped.

Ref: (http://www.sacredland.org/world_sites_pages/Tara.html)

The Lismullen henge.

Those who are expert in this area and in the area of Tara are of no doubt that this ritual site, really a temple, is part of the extended Tara complex. It is about 500metres from the area of Rath Lugh also flagged as being under threat of the motorway. This is the place about which there was such a furore in January. The NRA is trying to fit the road between these monuments � this was shown in photographs in the past.

This point in the Gabhra Valley is the entrance to Tara. It was more or less expected that a Henge would be found in this location. They are usually associated with Passage Tombs. Conor Newman and Joe Fenwick recorded the existence of a straight line of Passage Tombs running from the river Boyne southwards right through the Gabhra Valley and up to the top of the hill. The Mound of the Hostages is surrounded by a henge also, this is 200metres in diameter and is much larger than the Lismullin Henge that is 80metres, still a very large area. These two Henges are about the same distance apart as Knowth and Dowth are from each other. No one would doubt that the latter two are related to each other.

It is therefore no accident that this Henge is exactly where it is.

(Ref:  http://www.indymedia.ie/article/82427)

 

What You Can Do

Learn more about the issue and keep abreast of new developments by visiting the websites for the Save Tara campaign and TaraWatch. You can sign an online petition addressed to Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, and join the network of Tara activists through MySpace and Facebook. You can also get involved with the New York-based World Monument Fund, which is working to protect Tara and other endangered sites.

(More about Tara Hill) 

(Other Desecrated Megaliths)