Knowth

Knowth is the site of a neolithic passage grave, one of the ancient monuments of the Br? na B?inne complex in the valley of the River Boyne in Ireland.

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It is around a kilometre north west of the Newgrange monument and 2km west of Dowth

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In terms of megalithic art, Knowth contains more than a quarter of the total number of examples in all Europe. 197 carved stones have been recorded there and 17 further chamber tombs surround the central mound. One of the rock carvings is commonly interpreted as an image of the Moon; if the interpretation is correct, it is the oldest known representation of the Moon.

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By the Iron Age, the hill of Knowth had become a hill fort with encircling defences and souterrains added. During the historical period it was the seat of the kings of Brega before being taken over by the Normans in the twelfth century.

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Legend has Knowth as the entrance to the underworld and one of the tri lorcha Herenn or three dark places of Ireland.

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Neolithic: The Neolithic, (Greek neos=new, lithos=stone, or "New Stone Age") was a period in the development of human technology that is traditionally the last part of the Stone Age. The name was invented by John Lubbock in 1865 as a refinement of the three-age system. The term is more commonly used in the Ol...

Passage grave: A Passage grave (sometimes hyphenated) or Passage tomb is a tomb, usually dating to the Neolithic, where the burial chamber is reached along a distinct, and usually low, passage. Variants include those with sub-chambers leading off from the main burial chamber, called Cruciform passage graves, Undif...

River Boyne: The River Boyne is a river in Leinster, Ireland, the course of which is about 112 kilometres (70 miles) long. It rises at Trinity Well, Newbury Hall, near Carbury, County Kildare, and flows towards the Northeast through County Meath to reach the Irish Sea at Drogheda. Salmon and trout can be caught ...