Ireland

Slieve na Calliagh

Neolithic passage tombs in County Meath, Ireland

Location

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Historical Context

About

Slieve na Calliagh (Irish: Sliabh na Caillí or Sliabh na Cailleach, meaning 'the Cailleach's mountain') are a range of hills and ancient burial site near Oldcastle, County Meath, Ireland. The summit is 276 metres (906 ft), the highest point in the county. On the hilltops are about twenty passage tombs, some decorated with rare megalithic art, which were built in the 4th millennium BC. Also called the Loughcrew tombs, it is a protected National Monument and is one of the main passage tomb cemeteries in Ireland, along with Brú na Bóinne, Carrowkeel and Carrowmore.

Paleolithic
Mesolithic
Neolithic
Chalcolithic
Bronze Age
Iron Age
Classical Period
Post-Classical Period
Early Modern Period
Industrial Period
Contemporary Period
Temporal Epochs

Historical Timeline

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E. A. Conwell survey

1864

Rotherham survey

1895

George Coffey investigations

early 20th century

Equinox alignment discovery

1980

Construction of passage tombs

c. 3000 BC

Early settlement ancestry

c. 4200 BC

Classification

Archaeological Features

Unique architectural and cultural elements found at this historical site

category

Burial and Funerary Structures

Passage TombsCairnsBurial MoundsCemeteries
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Artistic and Decorative Features

Megalithic ArtDecorated Ceiling StonesCarved Backstones
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Environmental and Natural Features

HillsArtificial Mounds
category

Astronomical and Timekeeping Structures

Stone AlignmentsEquinox-oriented Passage
Knowledge Base

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Reference

Details

Country

Ireland

Coordinates

53.74° N, -7.11° E