| Kerbstone
1, the Entrance Stone guards access to the interior of Newgrange. This
highly symbolic engraving is the neolithic masterpiece of Europe. |
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Newgrange
has some of the finest megalithic art in Europe. Three of the kerbstones
are fully decorated - the Entrance stone, K
52
which is positioned at the opposite side of the cairn to the entrance,
and K 67 which lies to the
north of the chamber. In addition there are many lesser carvings on other
kerbstones. During the excavation it was discovered that several stones
were decorated on their inner hidden sides, which prompted much speculation
about the nature of the art. The Entrance Stone Kerbstone
1 is the masterpiece of the Boyne Valley builders, and is the most recognisable
symbol of prehistory in Ireland. I would have to add here that it is this
stone which fired my imagination when I first came across it in History
of Art at the age of 15; we had to learn to draw it freehand. I have been
fascinated with it ever since. My own feelings about this symbol, having had a rubbing of it on my wall for many years, are that it is a lot more complex than that. My latest interpretation - since I took up music myself - is that it may bear some kind relationship to musical notation. Modern notation has a spiral in the 'treble' clef and the base clefs, while the chevrons appear close to where you might mark sharp or flat notes. This brings us into deeper levels of symbolism, as music is closely related - indeed is formed from vibrations, and there are many, many New Agey theories about Newgrange. All energy moves in a spiral motion - there are many examples in nature such water going down a hole, tornadoes, cyclones, anti-cyclones, etc. |
| Painting
of K1 by Padraig Conway, Milwaukee Irishfestival, 1998. |
The lintel of the Roofbox is
engraved with a series of eight lozanges which may reflect the division
of the year into eight parts. The passage and chamber stones are also
richly engraved with spiral, lozange and zig-zag motifs. The signiture
of the Newgrange builders is the famous triple spiral which appears on
the entrance stone and in the end recess of the chamber.
There
has been plenty of speculation about the meaning of this stone, and if
you go on a tour at Newgrange, the guides will offer some of these. One
of the most common explanations (and most simpleminded) is that the large
triple spiral represents the three big mounds; the spirals on the right
are some of the smaller mounds, and the wavy lines on the bottom represent
the River Boyne. In this scheme, the rectangles, triangles and lozanges
are the fields of the first farmers.