5000 - 2000 BCE, Neolithic, or New Stone Age

by Larry Chamberlin and Kathleen NiBhriain

Neolithic (New Stone Age) people made a crossing in second migratory wave. They quickly absorbed the Mesolithic tribes wherever they came in contact. These were the great Tomb Builders. Their most famous remaining construction is the passage tomb at Newgrange, County Meath. Carbon-dating refinements led to reassessing the construction date of the Newgrange tomb to circa 3200 BCE, which means it predates most of the Sumerian constructions and the earliest Egyptian constructions (conf. Step Pyramid of Zozer, c. 2700 BCE) by nearly half a millennium.

These people changed the face of Ireland. They cleared forests, built houses (e.g. Lough Gur, County Limerick), began the first agriculture in Ireland (cereals), and began the still-existent development of the peat industry. Perhaps most notably, they engaged in commerce with Britain and the mainland through their exports of fine axe-heads, from factories such as those situated in County Antrium.

By analyzing the pollen content of varying layers found in bogs, it can be shown what kinds of flora (plants) were around during which time periods. Between 3350 and 3200 BCE there was a reduction in the amount of elm pollen in Fallahogy (near Derry), coupled with elevated levels of ribwort plantain pollen, which would tend to reflect a period during which elm trees were cut down and replaced with farms. This same phenomenon has been noted in County Louth (3210 BCE), Offaly (3200 BCE)and Sligo (3010 BCE). These areas represent the majority of the northern portion of Ireland, and would tend to lend credence to the theory that Ireland had a large population of farming communities prior to 3000 BCE, though the Celts/Gaels did not arrive until later.

Carbon dating shows evidence of Neolithic hunters during this period in Northern Ireland and Scotland.

It is believed these people had a structured language and complex social arrangements together with an appreciation for the dance, music (flute), singing and possibly story telling. The decorations in the Newgrange tomb are said to be some of the finest examples of megalithic art. The tomb is early proof of their awareness of celestial events, as it is arranged to detect the sunrise of the Winter Solstice, as observed by Professor Michael O'Kelly. A later development, the Portal Tomb, made the first use of the capstone (the tomb at Browne's Hill, County Carlow, contains a capstone weighing 100 tons). These tomb types were built between 2500 BCE and c. 2100 BCE, representing one factor in the transition from the Late Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age.

Sources:

A History of Ireland, Peter & Fiona Somerset Fry, © Barnes & Noble Books, 1993, New York, ISBN 1-56619-215-3. (Orig. printing © 1988, Peter Fry, Routledge Press)

Ireland In Prehistory, Michael Herity and George Eogan, Routledge, ©1997, ISBN 0-415-04889-3

prepared by Larry Chamberlin and Kathleen NiBhriain

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