Dooey's Cairn
Neolithic |
Dooey's Cairn, or Ballymacaldrack Court Tomb, is a prehistoric site of the
It is named after Andrew Dooey, who owned the land; the monument was granted to the state in 1975 by his family. It is maintained by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency.[1]
Description
Dooey's Cairn is well preserved. Court tombs are usually aligned north–south, but here the U-shaped court, defined by eleven upright slabs, faces south-west of a small roofless chamber; two portal stones are at the entrance to the chamber. Excavation in 1935 found polished stone axes beneath the portal stones.[1][3][4]
Behind the chamber are two more portal stones leading to a passage, length about 6 metres (20 ft). This "cremation passage", investigated during excavation of 1975, originally had a timber roof and a cobbled floor; it had three pits containing the cremated bones of five or six adult humans. It is the only court cairn in Ireland with a cremation passage.[1][3][4]
Four pots found during excavation are now in the Ulster Museum.[5]
See also
References
- ^ a b c "Dooey's Cairn" Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
- ^ "Irish court cairns" The Sacred Island. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
- ^ a b "Dooey's Cairn - Neolithic Court Grave" Archived 12 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine culturenorthernisland.com. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
- ^ a b "Ballymacaldrack Court Tomb" Megalithic Ireland. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
- ^ "Dooey's Cairn pottery" A History of the World. BBC. Retrieved 8 October 2020.