Summary: Structure and examples of court tombs
Key dates:
These court tombs were the earliest megalithic monuments in Ireland. They were part of a north European tradition of tombs. There are almost 400 of these in Ireland, mainly in the north of the country. They were built from the fourth millennium BC.
They take their name from their distinctive courtyard features. This normally occupies the broader eastern end of a long trapeze-shaped cairn. This courtyard is in front of the gallery which is covered and divided into two, three or four chambers. The burials were in the inner galleries while the courtyards were the location for various rituals associated with the dead.
Cremation was the most common burial rite although some cairns have unburned remains. The tomb at Audleystown, Co Down contained the remains of thirty four people, some cremated, others not.
It was usual to place pottery in these graves. Some of this was highly decorated. Other examples were flat bottomed and plain and resembled ordinary household goods. Some pottery had traces of grain. Stone artefacts of leaf and lozenge shaped arrowheads and javelin heads have been found also as well as knives, scrapers and beads.
In some graves the bones of animals have been found and these may represent funeral feasts.
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