Passage tomb in Knowth

Knowth cemetery, Tomb 6. This tomb is located c. 13m W of the great mound, Tomb 1C, and is c. 20m SW of the entrance to the W passage in that mound. It is also c. 12m N of Tomb 5. This is the remains of a kerbed mound, of which only three contiguous kerbstones at SE with some mound material consisting of redeposited boulder clay (max. H 0.4m) attached to their inner sides remained. However, the sockets of orthostats representing a cruciform passage tomb(L 8m plus E-W; span 4m N-S) opening at E were also recorded. The right-hand recess (int. dims 2m N-S; c. 1m E-W) is the largest and contained the remains of several individuals with portion of a ring, a pendant and a flint. This recess had the cremated remains of three adults and three juveniles as well as unburned remains of one adult and one juvenile, while the left-hand recess had cremated remains from one adult and one juvenile (Buckley et al. 2017, 307--08). Large sherds of a Grooved ware vessel were also in this recess. The deposit was overlain by two intrusive inhumations from the first millennium AD (Eogan 2012, 48-51). Three samples from the right-hand recess produce a tight date range of 3080-2920 cal. BC, and it may be one of the later tombs if the deposits are primary, which is not certain (Shulting et al. 2017, 353-4). The orthostats are now marked in concrete and the mound is partially reconstructed. (Eogan 1974, 24-30, Site 9, 73-80; 1984, 41-5, 312, Site 6; 1986, 68-9; Eogan and Roche 1997, 211) The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Meath' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1987). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 10 July 2007 Revised: 16 September 2020 See the attached plans: _1 Cemetery plan from Knowth 6, Fig. 2:1 _2 Tomb plan from Knowth 1, Fig. 20

Passage tomb in Knowth is a Neolithic passage tomb, dating to the 4th millennium BCE. It is part of a significant ceremonial and burial complex associated with early megalithic traditions in Ireland.