Image 2 Caption:
Map
of the River Boyne Valley
showing its historical sights.
Newgrange was constructed
in circa 32nd century BCE
by Neolithic Irish
(see Wikipedia: Newgrange: History).
The Neolithic Irish
were NOT
the Irish Celts
(see also Wikipedia: Celts,
Wikipedia: Insular Celts) who
arrived in Ireland
probably before or circa the
6th century BCE
(see Wikipedia:
Prehistoric Ireland: Iron Age (500 BCE -- 400 CE)).
Newgrange is older than
Stonehenge
(earliest conjecture for earliest construction circa
3100 BCE:
see Wikipedia:
Stonehenge: Stonehenge 1 (c. 3100 BC))
and
the Giza Pyramids
(earliest construction early
26th century BCE:
see Wikipedia: Great Pyramid of Giza).
The purpose of Newgrange
is uncertain, but it may have been religious
(see Wikipedia: Newgrange: Purpose).
The megalith
lying in front of the entrance has
triple spirals or
spiral
triskelions.
The triskelion
is a motif
with three interlocked spirals, curved lines, or
legs with rotational symmetry.
The
triple spiral
was used in
Neolithic Ireland,
Bronze-Age
Ireland,
and
Iron-Age Ireland
when the Celts arrived
probably before or circa the
6th century BCE as aforesaid.
Newgrange embodies
alignment astronomy,
and so is a
astronomical site
of archaeoastronomy.
At sunrise
on the winter solstice,
sunlight beams down the main passageway
and illuminates a chamber floor
(see Wikipedia: Newgrange: Purpose).
This alignment was almost certainly planned.
