The Neolithic Period The new stone age

Bronze age MIDDLE STONE AGE (MESOLITHIC ) NEW STONE AGE (NEOLITHIC ) OLD STONE AGE IRON AGE EARLY CHRISTIAN IRELAND FIRST FARMERS IN IRELAND FIRST PEOPLE IN IRELAND NO PEOPLE IN IRELAND FIRST USE OF METAL IRON REPLACES BRONZE +CELTS ARRIVE ARRIVAL OF CHRISTIANIT Y 8000 BC 4000 BC 2300 BC 500 BC 400 BC

By the end of the topic you will know  How the arrival of farming changed Ireland  The life and work of the first farmers  Their burial customs

First farmers  New people arrived in dugout canoes or skin covered boat s and became Irelands first farmers  Grew crops  Had cattle, pigs, sheep's, goats and dogs (domesticated animals)  Stone axes to clear forests  They changes the Irish landscape  Examples: Lough Gur Co.Limerick  Boyne valley Co. Meath

Houses which is Neolithic and which is Mesolithic? What is the difference?

Houses  Rectangular  Timber poles with stones placed around to keep them in place  Walls made of timber planks or wattle and daub. (sticks covered in mud or clay)  Thatched roof with straw  Hearth in centre with spit  Hole in roof  Houses were stronger than Mesolithic-----but why? First farmers built permanent settlements

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Work and food  Small fields with low walls  Example Céide fields Co. Mayo  Used for dairying and grain growing  Land tilled with mattocks (breaks up hard ground) or wooden ploughs.  They grew wheat and barley (bread and porridge)  Saddle stone used to ground the grain  Animal meat – pigs killed in winter  Fishing, hunting and gathering berries continued  Animal skin for clothes and also wool was spun and woven

Tools and weapons  Made from stone that has been polished  Jewellery (beads and pendants) made from stone/wood/bone. Use of tools and weapons AxesCutting down trees/building houses and boats, fighting Bows and arrows and spearsHunting and fighting Wooden and stone ploughsTilling the ground Mattocks and spadesTilling the ground ScrapersCleaning skins Bone or antler needlesStitching

Pottery  Made by hand using clay  Uses:  1) Storing food  2) Burials  3) Cooking Sarah Bakes Cookies Quick tip!!

Burial Customs -the 6 stages in building a great stone tomb  1)Great stones were moved on rollers (pushing + levering)  2) Trenches used to put stones in upright position  3) Banks were built around the upright stones  4)Large stones were rolled up the banks and placed on top of the upright stone  5)Banks were cleared to show stones clearly  6)Smaller stones placed to cover the tomb Lets see it in action turn to page 30

The most important legacy left by Neolithic communities are their burial tombs and megaliths. Megalithic tombs were great stone tombs built to honour the dead. There are three main types: Court Cairns Portal Dolmens Passage Tombs Newgrange is an excellent example of a Neolithic Tomb.

COURT CAIRNS  Had a semi circular court or open space in the front with an entrance leading into a passage and burial chamber.  Large upright stones formed the entrance.  Passage and chamber were covered by a ‘ cairn ’, or mound of smaller stones.  Used for cremation.  Ashes of bodies were placed in pots in the burial chamber which had a corbelled roof. CreevyKeel situated Co. Galway

Portal Dolmens  Poulnabrone Dolmen is a portal tomb or portal dolmen. It is located in the Burren in Co. Clare dating to between 4,200 BC and 2,900 BC Consisted of three large upright stones which supported a very large capstone or dolmen. Two large upright stones acted as portals or door supports, while the third stone was at the back. Bodies were cremated and placed in pots inside the chamber.

Passage Tombs  Most impressive of all megalithic tombs.  Get their name from the long passage leading from the entrance to a burial chamber inside.  Most famous is Newgrange in the Boyne Valley, Co. Meath.

Newgrange Newgrange is one of the best examples in Western Europe of the type of monument known as a passage grave or passage tomb. According to the most reliable Carbon 14 dating technigues, Newgrange was constructed around 3200BC. This means it is at leat 600 years older than the Giza Pyramids in Egypt and 1,000 years older than Stonehenge

Structure  A circular mound that cover a long passage leading to a cross shaped burial chamber.  Passage has upright stones along both sides, with large flat stones placed on top to form the roof.  Roof of chamber is corbelled.  As the stones of the corbelled roof slope gently upwards, the floor of the passage and the chamber is always dry

Winter Solstice Entrance door at Newgrange has a roof box over it. On the Winter Solstice (21 st December) each year, the light of the rising sun enters the roof box and penetrates the passage, shining onto the floor of the inner chamber. The beam illuminates the inner chamber for just 17 minutes.

Winter solstice in Newgrange ZkwV0RQ#t=17

 Series of stones circling the mound and a large stone lies on its side at the entrance to Newgrange.  On this and other stones, the Neolithic people carved their artwork. Circles, triangles and spirals were used.

People who built Newgrange  Well organised.  Great builders and had many skilled craftsmen.  Had a religion and believed in the afterlife.  Were astronomers and mathematicians.

What did we learn:

Homework:  Yellow box page 34 questions 1 - 6