Wateresk Dolmen Portal Tomb Dundrum N Ireland скачать в хорошем качестве

Wateresk Dolmen Portal Tomb Dundrum N Ireland

I'm down in Dundrum Co Down for a meet up with old school friend Stewart. I take the opportunity to visit a fabulous example of a Dolmen,- the exceptional Portal Tomb at Watersesk. Found across the road and opposite Murlough Nature Reserve's main entrance is the Watersk or Slidderyford dolmen. We are only a few kilometres north of Newcastle, County Down. The dolmen at Wateresk stands in a beautiful location. The Mourne mountains provide a gorgeous backdrop to the site when viewed from the north. One of the most striking features of this dolmen is the largest of the support stones which is wonderfully sculptured to hold the capstone, almost as if in the palm of a hand This concavity is known as a shoulder , a distinctive feature of some of County Downs megaliths. The dolmen stands 50 m from the side road. It is well worth a visit. A Dolmen (/ˈdɒlmɛn/) is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more vertical megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone ("table"), although there are also more complex variants. Most date from the early Neolithic (4000–3000 BC). Dolmens were typically covered with earth or smaller stones to form a tumulus. In many instances, that covering has weathered away, leaving only the stone "skeleton" of the burial mound intact. It remains unclear when, why, and by whom the earliest dolmens were made. The oldest known dolmens are in Western Europe, where they were set in place around 7,000 years ago. Archaeologists still do not know who erected these dolmens, which makes it difficult to know why they did it. They are generally all regarded as tombs or burial chambers, despite the absence of clear evidence for this. Human remains, sometimes accompanied by artifacts, have been found in or close to the dolmens which could be scientifically dated using radiocarbon dating. However, it has been impossible to prove that these remains date from the time when the stones were originally set in place. Take the A2 north from Newcastle, County Down, after approx 3 kilometres you will see a small car park to your left, take the left turn immediately after the car park and cross Slidderyford Bridge, the tomb is in a field to your left about 100 metres past the bridge.