The Great Stone Circle (B) at Grange, Co. Limerick: A Ceremonial Space for All Seasons?
Issue: Vol 1 No. 1 (2015)
Journal: Journal of Skyscape Archaeology
Subject Areas:
Abstract:
Prehistoric stone circles are generally interpreted as having had a variety of roles and meaning in the Neolithic and Bronze Age, especially as places for gathering and ceremony in the case of the largest examples. This paper undertakes an archaeoastronomical investigation of one of the rarest types, known as an embanked stone circle. Contrary to popular belief, the findings do not indicate any clear evidence of significant astronomical alignments inherent in the monument’s architecture. However, the character of the Grange (B) stone circle is considered and interpreted within a broader range of perspectives including morphology, landscape setting, ritual function, and the likely role and meaning of the sky in the past. The modern perception of skyscapes as cultural heritage assets is considered in terms of their protection.
Author: Frank Prendergast
References :
Atkinson, G. M., 1884. “The Cuairt, or Stone Circle, at Liosavigeen”. The Journal of the Royal Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland 6 (58): 306–307.
Barnatt J. and P. Herring, 1986. “Stone Circles and Megalithic Geometry: An Experiment to Test Alternative Design Practices”. Journal of Archaeological Science 13 (5): 431–449. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0305-4403(86)90013-0
Barrie, T., 2012. “Sacred Space and the Mediating Roles of Architecture”. European Review 20 (1): 79–84. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1062798711000330
Bell, C., 1997. Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bell, C., 2007. “Response: Defining the Need for a Definition”. In The Archaeology of Ritual, edited by E. Kyriakidis, 277–288. Los Angeles, CA: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology.
Bourgeois, Q. P. J., 2013. Monuments on the Horizon: The Formation of the Barrow Landscape Throughout the 3rd and 2nd Millennium BC. Leiden: Sidestone Press Dissertations.
Bradley, R., 1998a. The Significance of Monuments: On the Shaping of Human Experience in Neolithic and Bronze Age Europe. London: Routledge.
Bradley, R., 1998b. “Stone Circles and Passage Graves – A Contested Relationship”. In Prehistoric Ritual and Religion: Essays in Honour of Aubrey Burl, edited by A. M. Gibson and D. D. A. Simpson, 2–13. Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing.
Bradley, R., 2000. An Archaeology of Natural Places. London: Routledge.
Bradley, R., 2006. “Monuments de pierre préhistoriques de Grande-Bretagne et d'Irlande: un cas d’exception / Prehsitoric Stone Settings in Britain and Ireland: An Exceptional Case”. In Origine et développement du mégalithisme de l’ouest de l’Europe: Colloque international du 26 au 30 octobre 2002 / Origin and Development of the Megalithic Monuments of Western Europe: International Conference 26 to 30 October 2002, Musée des Tumulus de Bougon (Deux-Sèvres), edited by R. Joussaume, L. Laporte and C. Scarre, 525–544. Bougon, France: Conseil Général des Deux-Sèvres.
Bradley, R., 2012. The Idea of Order: The Circular Archetype in Prehistoric Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Burl, A., 1995. A Guide to the Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Burl, A., 2000. The Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Calado, M., 2006. “Les menhirs de la Péninsule Ibérique / The Menhirs of the Iberian Peninsula”. In Origine et développement du mégalithisme de l’ouest de l’Europe: Colloque international du 26 au 30 octobre 2002 / Origin and Development of the Megalithic Monuments of Western Europe: International Conference 26 to 30 October 2002, Musée des Tumulus de Bougon (Deux-Sèvres), edited by R. Joussaume, L. Laporte and C. Scarre, 613–635. Bougon, France: Conseil Général des Deux-Sèvres.
Cleary, R. M. and J. O’Driscoll, 2014. “Archaeological Remains and Geophysical Surveys at Lough Gur and Grange Stone Circle”. In Limerick and Shannon Estuary Region, edited by C. Dalton and E. O’Carroll. IQUA Field Guide 32: 31–44. Dublin: Irish Quaternary Association
Condit, T. and G. Cooney, 1998. The Beltany Stone Circle: A “Celtic” Ritual Site in County Donegal. Archaeology Ireland Heritage Guide 4. Bray: Archaeology Ireland.
Condit, T. and C. Corlett, 2001. The Stone Circle at Castleruddery Lower. Archaeology Ireland Heritage Guide 13. Bray, Ireland: Archaeology Ireland.
Cooney, G., 2006. “Newgrange – A View from the Platform”. Antiquity 80 (309): 697–708. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X0009414X
Cummings, V. and A. W. R. Whittle, 2004. Places of Special Virtue: Megaliths in the Neolithic Landscapes of Wales. Oxford: Oxbow Books.
Dalton, C. and R. Langford, 2014. “The Geography of Lough Gur”. In Limerick and Shannon Estuary Region, edited by C. Dalton and E. O’Carroll. IQUA Field Guide 32: 20–30. Dublin: Irish Quaternary Association.
Darvill, T. C., 2002. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Eliade, M., 1954. The Myth of the Eternal Return. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
English Heritage, 2015. http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/ Accessed February 2015.
Freller, T., 2013. The Observing Eye: The French Artist Jean Houel in Malta. Santa Venera, Malta: Midsea Books.
Department of Communications, 2015. Geological Survey of Ireland [online]. Accessed February 2015. http://www.gsi.ie/
Gibson, A., 2005. Stonehenge and Timber Circles. New edn. Stroud, UK: Tempus.
Gibson, A. and D. Simpson, eds., 1998. Prehistoric Ritual and Religion: Essays in Honour of Aubrey Burl. Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing.
Grove, M., 2010. “Stone Circles and the Structure of Bronze Age Society”. Journal of Archaeological Science 37: 2612–2621. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2010.05.021
Henty, L., 2014. “The Archaeoastronomy of Tomnaverie Recumbent Stone Circle: A Comparison of Methodologies”. Papers from the Institute of Archaeology 24: Art. 15 (online edition). http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/pia.464
Hugh-Jones, S., 1979. The Palm and the Pleiades: Initiation and Cosmology in Northwest Amazonia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Insoll, T., 2004. Archaeology, Ritual, Religion. London: Routledge.
Joussaume, R., L. Laporte, and C. Scarre, eds., 2006. Origine et développement du mégalithisme de l’ouest de l’Europe: Colloque international du 26 au 30 octobre 2002 / Origin and Development of the Megalithic Monuments of Western Europe: International Conference 26 to 30 October 2002, Musée des Tumulus de Bougon (Deux-Sèvres). Bougon, France: Conseil Général des Deux-Sèvres.
Last, J., 2011. Introduction to Heritage Assets: Prehistoric Circles and Henges [online]. No location: English Heritage. Accessed 23rd May, 2014. http://content.historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/iha-prehistoric-henges-circles/prehistorichengesandcircles.pdf/
Leask, H. G., 1945. “Stone Circle, Castleruddery, Co. Wicklow”. The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 75 (4): 266–267.
Lewis-Williams, D., 2010. Conceiving God: The Cognitive Origin and Evolution of Religion. London: Thames and Hudson.
Lynch, J. F., 1895. “Lough Gur”. Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society 1 (7): 289–302.
Malone, C., 2008. “Metaphor and Maltese Art: Explorations in the Temple Period”. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 21 (1): 81–109. http://dx.doi.org/10.1558/jmea.v21i1.81
Malone, C., G. Barber and S. Ashley, 2009. Mortuary Customs in Prehistoric Malta: Excavations at the Brochtorff Circle at Xaghra (1987–94). Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.
Mathews, J. P. and J. F. Garber, 2004. “Models of Cosmic Order: Physical Expression of Sacred Space among the Ancient Maya”. Ancient Mesoamerica 15: 49–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0956536104151031
May, A. M. and G. F. Mitchell, 1953. “Neolithic Habitation Site, Stone Circles and Alignments at Beaghmore, Co. Tyrone”. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 83 (2): 174–197.
McCluskey, S. C., 1989. “The Mid-quarter Days and the Historical Survival of British Folk Astronomy”. Archaeoastronomy (Supplement to the Journal for the History of Astronomy) 20 (13): S1–S19.
McColgan, M., 2007. “Light Pollution” [online]. Lighting Answers 7 (2). Revised edn. Accessed 27th November, 2014. http://www.lrc.rpi.edu/programs/nlpip/lightinganswers/lightpollution/abstract.asp
Ministry of Culture, 2015 Mégalithes du Morbihan [online]. Accessed February 2015. http://www.culture.gouv.fr/fr/arcnat/megalithes/
Mitchell, F. J. G., B. Stefanini and R. Marchant, 2013. “A Catologue of Irish Pollen Diagrams”. Biology and Environment: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, 113B: 1–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.3318/BIOE.2013.04
Mitchell, G. F., 1954. “A Pollen-Diagram from Lough Gur, County Limerick (Studies in Irish Quaternary Deposits: No. 9)”. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy (C) 56: 481–488.
National Monument Service, 2015. http://www.archaeology.ie/ Accessed February 2015.
Norberg-Schulz, C., 1980. Genius Loci: Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture. London: Academy Editions.
Northern Ireland Environment Agency, 2015. http://www.doeni.gov.uk/niea Accessed February 2015.
Ó Nualláin, S., 1975. “The Stone Circle Complex of Cork and Kerry”. The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 105: 83–131.
Ó Nualláin, S., 1984. “A Survey of Stone Circles in Cork and Kerry”. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy (C) 84: 1–77.
Ó Nualláin, S., 1995. Stone Circles in Ireland. Dublin: Country House.
Ó Ríordáin, S. P., 1951. “Lough Gur Excavations: The Great Stone Circle (B) in Grange Townland”. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy (C) 54: 37–74.
Ó Ríordáin, S. P. and R. De Valera, 1979. Antiquities of the Irish Countryside. 5th edn. London: Routledge.
O’Connell, M. and K. Molloy, 2001. “Farming and Woodland Dynamics in Ireland during the Neolithic”. Biology and Environment: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy (B) 101 (1): 99–128.
Office of the Attorney General, 2000. Planning and Development Act, 2000. Dublin: Government of Ireland.
O’Sullivan, M., S. Davis and G. Stout, 2012. “Henges in Ireland: New Discoveries and Emerging Issues”. In Enclosing the Neolithic: Recent Studies in Britain and Europe, edited by A. Gibson. British Archaeological Reports, International Series S2440. Oxford: Archaeopress.
Oswald, A., C. Dyer and M. Barber, 2001. The Creation of Monuments: Neolithic Causewayed Enclosures in the British Isles. Swindon, UK: English Heritage.
Patrick, J., 1975. “Megalithic Exegesis: A Comment”. Irish Archaeological Research Forum 2 (2): 9–14.
Prendergast, F., 2012. “The Lismullin Enclosure: Design Beyond the Obvious in the Iron Age”. In Encounters Between Peoples, edited by B. Kelly, N. Roycroft and M. Stanley. Archaeology and the National Roads Authority Monograph Series 9: 15–30. Dublin: National Roads Authority. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6141-8_31
Prendergast, F., 2015. “Techniques of Field Survey”. In Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy, edited by C. L. N. Ruggles, 389–409. New York: Springer.
Prendergast, F., 2015. “An Architectural Perspective on Structured Sacred Space – Recent Evidence from Iron Age Ireland”. In Skyscapes in Archaeology: The Role and Importance of the Sky, edited by F. Silva and N. Campion, in press. Oxford: Oxbow.
Rappenglück, M., 2006. “Cultural Context from the Archaeoastronomical Data and the Echoes of Cosmic Catastrophic Events”. In Cosmic Catastrophes: A Collection of Articles: SEAC 2002 Proceedings, edited by M. Kóiva, P. Izold and L. Vesik, 157–166. Tartu, Estonia: Center for Cultural History and Folkloristics in Estonia, Tartu Observatory.
Ritchie, J. N. G., 2006. “Le mégalithique d'Écosse. Megaliths in Scotland”. In Origine et développement du mégalithisme de l’ouest de l’Europe: Colloque international du 26 au 30 octobre 2002 / Origin and Development of the Megalithic Monuments of Western Europe: International Conference 26 to 30 October 2002, Musée des Tumulus de Bougon (Deux-Sèvres), edited by R. Joussaume, L. Laporte and C. Scarre, 159–186. Bougon, France: Conseil Général des Deux-Sèvres.
Roche, H., 2004. "The Dating of the Embanked Stone Circle at Grange, Co. Limerick”. In From Megaliths to Metals: Essay in Honour of George Eogan, edited by H. Roche, E. Grogan, J. Bradley, J. Coles and B. Raftery, 109–116. Oxford: Oxbow.
Roman Inscriptions of Britain, 2015. “RIB 792. Altar Dedicated to Jupiter Optimus Maximus and the Genius Loci” [online]. Accessed February 2015. http://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/792
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, 2015. http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/ Accessed February 2015.
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, 2015. http://www.coflein.gov.uk/ Accessed February 2015.
Ruggles, C. L. N., 1999. Astronomy in Prehistoric Britain and Ireland. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Ruggles, C. L. N., 2005. Ancient Astronomy: An Encyclopedia of Cosmologies and Myth. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC Clio.
Ruggles, C. L. N., 2009. “Under One Sky”. New Scientist 201 (2691): 14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0262-4079(09)60141-X
Ruggles, C. L. N., 2015. “Recumbent Stone Circles”. In Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy, edited by C. L. N. Ruggles, 1277–1285. New York: Springer. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6141-8_122
Ruggles, C. L. N. and G. Barclay, 2000. “Cosmology, Calendars and Society in Neolithic Orkney: A Rejoinder to Euan MacKie”. Antiquity 74 (283): 62–74.
Ruggles, C. L. N. and H. A. W. Burl, 1985. “A New Study of the Aberdeenshire Recumbent Stone Circles, 2: Interpretation”. Archaeoastronomy (Supplement to the Journal for the History of Astronomy) 8: S25–S60.
Ruggles, C. L. N. and F. Prendergast, 1996. “A New Archaeoastronomical Investigation of the Irish Axial-Stone Circles”. In Proceedings of the Second SEAC Conference, August 29th-31st, 1994, edited by W. Schlosser, 5–13. Bochum, Germany: Rhur-Universität.
Ruggles, C. L. N. and N. J. Saunders, 1993. “The Study of Cultural Astronomy”. In Astronomies and Cultures: Papers Derived from the Third "Oxford" International Symposium on Archaeoastronomy, St. Andrews, UK, September 1990, edited by C. L. N. Ruggles and Nicholas J. Saunders, 1–31. Niwot: University Press of Colorado.
Scarre, C., 2011. Landscapes of Neolithic Brittany. Oxford: Oxford University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199281626.001.0001
Stellarium v. 0.12.4. www.stellarium.org Accessed 29th November, 2014.
Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, 2015. http://www.culturalheritage.gov.mt/page.asp?p=21406&l=1 Accessed February 2015.
Thom, A. and A. S. Thom, 1980. Megalithic Rings. British Archaeological Reports, British Series 81. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports. Collated with archaeological notes by A. Burl.
Tilley, C., 1996. An Ethnography of the Neolithic: Early Prehistoric Societies in Southern Scandinavia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
UNESCO, 2015. Portal to the Heritage of Astronomy [online]. Accessed February 2015. http://www2.astronomicalheritage.net/
Verhoeven, M., 2011. “The Many Dimensions of Ritual”. In The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Ritual and Religion, edited by T. Insoll, 115–132. Oxford: Oxford University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199232444.013.0010
Welfare, A., 2011. Great Crowns of Stone: The Recumbent Stone Circles of Scotland. Edinburgh: The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland.
Wheatley, D. and M. Gillings, 2002. Spatial Technology and Archaeology: The Archaeological Applications of GIS. London: Taylor & Francis. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780203302392
Windle, B. C. A., 1912/1913. “On Certain Megalithic Remains Immediately Surrounding Lough Gur, County Limerick”. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy (C) 30: 283–306.