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Newgrange: quartz and granite wall
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CianMcLiam
CianMcLiam
1067 posts

Re: Newgrange: quartz and granite wall
Jul 17, 2016, 18:57
The 1880's revetment wall was around 2m high in places, holding back the exposed cairn after the trench was dug around the kerbstones, this was built of smaller and more rounded stone than the quartz facing:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7li9frtqbdhhcg1/IMG_0136.JPG?dl=0
Compared to this wall, the quartz looks more suitable, the fact that it was set in concrete was due to the repairs that had to be made to the 1880's revetment ie. health and safety. O'Kelly said they built such a dry wall facing so I'm sure if it couldn't have stood he would have discounted the idea in favour of it being laid out in front of the cairn.

Ann Lynch's new paper on Newgrange details early Bronze Age finds below the quartz layer, so if the quartz was laid out in front of the tomb this was done in the Bronze Age, or it only fell to the surface during the Bronze Age. It also makes little sense to lay the quartz down in deep layers close to the kerb, that hides the bulk of the specially transported stone beneath the surface layer, the quartz was surely brought there to be seen.

Ann Lynch says any accumulated turf layer either was removed in the Bronze Age or it has decayed away.

So if the quartz was laid out in front, this was done in the Bronze Age which makes it even more puzzling why quartz was found at large decorated passage tombs at Loughcrew, Knockroe, Baltinglass etc. Can we really claim that Bronze Age people decided to decorate old, out of use passage tombs with quartz, then cover it up very shortly afterwards? It doesn't make sense to me.
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