Bryn Celli Ddu Passage Tomb, Anglesey: Alignment, Construction, Date, and Ritual

Burrow, Steve

doi:10.1017/s0079497x00000517

Cited by 28 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 19 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“… 5 In Anglesey, recent re-dating of the developed passage tomb at Bryn Celli Ddu suggests that its primary use lasted until sometime between 3080 and 2820 cal bc (Burrow 2010, 263). This could potentially reflect the active use of this tomb into the early centuries of the 3rd millennium. …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Getting into the Groove: Exploring the Relationship between Grooved Ware and Developed Passage Tombs in Ireland c. 3000–2700 cal bc

Carlin

2017

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper examines the relationship between the use of late Irish passage tombs and the development of the British and Irish Grooved Ware complex, including its Orcadian origins. The architectural forms of these passage tombs and their associated material culture, symbolic repertoires, and depositional practices in Ireland and Orkney indicate sustained connections between people in these places. It is argued that these interactions strongly influenced the development of Grooved Ware and its associated material culture in Orkney and beyond. The results of recent dating programmes are synthesised, and the character of depositional practices from 3300 to 2700 calbcare reassessed to highlight continuities in traditions of practice and representation. Together, these indicate that the adoption of Grooved Ware in Ireland did not herald an era of large-scale social transformation and that the primary use of late passage tombs did not suddenly cease at the end of the 4th millenniumbc. Instead they continued as foci for largely unchanged forms of ceremonial activity until 2450 calbcas part of a series of ongoing social and cultural shifts in people’s material culture and practices. It is argued that the current periodisation of the late 4th–3rd millenniabcin Ireland unduly emphasises a disjuncture between the Irish Middle and Late Neolithic. An alternative view of social and cultural change that refocuses attention on social agency is proposed.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Getting into the Groove: Exploring the Relationship between Grooved Ware and Developed Passage Tombs in Ireland c. 3000–2700 cal bc

Carlin

2017

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Internal disposition of the monument may indicate intentionality in two ways. First, and although it could be artificially lit, it should be noted that most of the time the megalithic chamber would be in darkness, relating darkness with the realm of the dead; the direction of natural light towards the inner sanctum that occurs only at specific times of the year in several European monuments (Burl 1983, 29–30; Burrow 2010; Hensey 2017; MacKie 1997; Patrick 1974; Prendergast 2014, 1273; Ray 1989; Saletta 2011) may then suggest an intentionality aimed at signalling specific moments deemed important for the life cycle of the community. Secondly, the interaction of plays of light and shadow with specific architectural –(e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Those illumination effects were incorporated and have been studied in several Neolithic European structures (see Bradley 1989 for a general treatment and McCluskey 2015 for a recent review), especially in those connected with the dead, dolmens and passage graves, such as Newgrange in Ireland (Patrick 1974;Prendergast 2014Prendergast , 1273Ray 1989), Maes Howe in the Orkney Islands (Burl 1983, 30;Hedges 1984, 160), Bryn Celli Ddu in Anglesey (Burl 1983, 29-30;Burrow 2010) or Fontvielle in southern France (Saletta 2011).…”

Section: Illumination Events Inside Passage Grave Tombsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such effects were also allegedly incorporated into Neolithic European structures (see Bradley 1989 for a general treatment), especially in those connected with the dead, such as dolmens and passage graves. Notable examples are Newgrange in Ireland (Patrick 1974; Prendergast 2014, 1273; Ray 1989; see also Hensey 2017), Maeshowe in the Orkney Islands (MacKie 1997), Bryn Celli Ddu in Anglesey (Burl 1983, 29–30; Burrow 2010) or Fontvielle in southern France (Saletta 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Domesticating Light and Shadows in the Neolithic: The Dombate Passage Grave (A Coruña, Spain)

González-García

Vilas-Estévez

Lopez-Romero

et al. 2018

CAJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Research on the Neolithic monuments and dwellings of Atlantic Europe has shown that plays of light and colour were tools for the social and symbolic construction of the world. The integration of the architectures into the surrounding landscape and the incorporation of the surrounding landscape into the architectures were an essential part of this logic. In this context, recent research in the megalithic passage grave of Dombate has evidenced an unusual physical manifestation of sunlight, which interacts with the decorated back stone. The light-and-shadow phenomenon occurs at sunrise during the period of winter solstice. In this paper we discuss the particulars of this phenomenon and we argue that sunlight when it penetrates the passage and chamber at sunrise on these dates may have dictated how the art was located and applied to the structural stone. Such differentiation seems to have had important cultural and ritual significance and encoded/embedded meaning for the tomb builders and may have implications for the consideration of the symbolic dimension of similar architectures in Atlantic Europe.

show abstract

“…However, it is worth noting that, as was the case in the 1990s, with one exception (Carter et al 2010) the vast majority of investigations featured involve the targeted trenching and/or survey of previously known features for research purposes rather than landscape-scale excavation. Another perhaps surprising feature of fieldwork-related articles in 2010 is the employment of archaeoastronomical surveys -a technique which is very old but is clearly still seen to be relevant -for investigating upstanding prehistoric features (Burrow 2010;Cook et al 2010). One article raises the considerable investigative potential of Ground Penetrating Radar (Chapman et al 2010).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Pursuing ‘the Pressure of the Past’: British Prehistoric Research, 1980–2010

Cooper

2012

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article presents a detailed analysis of developments in British prehistoric research practices from 1980–2010, traversing the period during which Planning Policy Guidance Note 16 (PPG16) was introduced and changed substantially the way that archaeology was carried out. Using evidence from Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society (PPS) itself together with key fieldwork records collated over the duration of this period, a consideration is made of changes in the character of prehistoric investigations, in the evidence base available to researchers, and in the methodologies drawn upon and interpretations put forward in significant outputs of British prehistoric research. Several major shifts in research practices are highlighted. The findings augment considerably broad claims which have been made about the changing character of British prehistoric research practices and reveal some perhaps surprising traits of the investigative process. PPS's own role within this broader research milieu is also assessed.

show abstract

Bryn Celli Ddu Passage Tomb, Anglesey: Alignment, Construction, Date, and Ritual

Cited by 28 publications

References 19 publications

Getting into the Groove: Exploring the Relationship between Grooved Ware and Developed Passage Tombs in Ireland c. 3000–2700 cal bc

Getting into the Groove: Exploring the Relationship between Grooved Ware and Developed Passage Tombs in Ireland c. 3000–2700 cal bc

Domesticating Light and Shadows in the Neolithic: The Dombate Passage Grave (A Coruña, Spain)

Pursuing ‘the Pressure of the Past’: British Prehistoric Research, 1980–2010

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About