Megalithic tomb - passage tomb

The National Monuments Service's description

Knowth cemetery, Tomb 8:Located just 2m W of the great mound, Tomb 1C, and c. 12m NW of the entrance to the W tomb in that mound. The remains of a mound (diam. c. 13m; max. H 0.5m) of redeposited boulder clay covered with some shale is defined by a kerb of 12 surviving kerbstones N-E-S, with an indent at the entrance to the destroyed tomb at SE. The W part of its mound and kerb have been removed without trace. There is evidence of an undifferentiated passage tomb (L 6m plus; Wth c. 0.3-1.2m) opening at SE which was represented by the sockets of 11 orthostats, and some of the stones were present but displaced. Two kerbstones bear simple megalithic art, a light circle and a vague heart-shape. Further work in 1994 identified three orthostats from sockets at the outer edge of the passage (Eogan and Cleary 2017, 254-5). The mound is fully reconstructed. (Eogan 1974, 18-24, Site 8; 1984, 48-52, Site 8; 1986, 75)

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Meath' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1987). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload: 10 July 2007
Revised: 16 September 2020

See the attached plans:
_1 from Knowth 6, Fig. 2:1
_2 from Knowth 1, Fig. 25

References

Eogan, G. 1986 Knowth and the passage-tombs of Ireland. London. Thames and Hudson.

Eogan, G. 1984 Excavations at Knowth 1. Dublin. Royal Irish Academy.

Eogan, G. 1974 Report on the excavations of some passage graves, unprotected inhumation burials and a settlement site at Knowth, Co Meath. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 74C, 11 – 112.

Eogan, G. and Cleary, K. 2017 Excavations at Knowth 6: The Passage Tomb Archaeology of the Great Mound at Knowth. Royal Irish Academy, Dublin