| Brennan's
illustration of the west entrance at Knowth. |
|
The west passage, which is roughly aligned to region of the equinox sunsets and full moon sets, is about 34 m long. Two large stones, one tall and thin, the other round and bulky (above), stand outside the entrance. Martin Brennan observed a shadow cast by the taller stone falling on the vertical groove on the entrance stone at sunset around the equinox. The excavators found six oval 'settings' around the entrance, and an array of 'exotic' stones placed on the ground. These interesting features have been spotted at other sites such as Cairn T at Loughcrew, Queen Maeve's Cairn at Knocknarea, and outside the entrance to Newgrange. Since the chambers are designed for only a few people at a time, it is quite likely that there were public gatherings outside the entrances on the equinoxes and other festivals. There are areas of cobbeling and stone paving outside both entrances.
Decorated stones at the bend in the west passage, from George Eogan's book, Knowth. The passage runs straight east into the cairn for 25 m before bending slightly to the right at a large carved stone, sill and stone basin. The end of the passage opens into a large chamber marked by a sill stone engraved with a similar set of designs to the entrance stone, stone at the bend of the passage, and the end stone of the chamber. The walls and ceiling are constructed of massive slabs, the ceiling being composed of a single stone. It has been postulated that the kink in the passage is the remains of an earlier structure which was incorporated into the larger mound. A large decorated stone at the bend in the passage (above) is considered by some to represent a human face, perhaps a guardian of the chamber and passage. A basin stone, which looks as if someone tried to remove it from the chamber in the past, was found by this strange engraved stone. |
| The
west entrance at Knowth in 2002. |
The West Passage