American Reacts to Newgrange - Ireland’s Ancient Masterpiece
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- Опубліковано 22 лип 2023
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In this video I react to Newgrange, Ireland's ancient masterpiece. Join me as I react to a video showcasing the awe-inspiring beauty and historical significance of this incredible archaeological site.
Newgrange, located in County Meath, Ireland, is a prehistoric monument that dates back over 5,000 years, making it older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids. I'm amazed at the intricate stone carvings, the impressive engineering, and the mysterious astronomical alignments that make Newgrange a true marvel of human ingenuity.
This incredible UNESCO World Heritage Site is a testament to the advanced knowledge and skills of our ancestors. From the significance of the winter solstice alignment to the rich mythology surrounding Newgrange.
Whether you're a history enthusiast, a lover of ancient civilizations, or simply curious about the wonders of the world, Newgrange is a must visit place when in Ireland.
Thanks for watching. If you enjoyed this reaction please give this video a thumbs up, share your thoughts in the comments and click the subscribe button to follow my journey to learn about my British and Irish ancestry.
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Hi Steve. I'm Irish, lived most of my life here and have been fascinated with Newgrange since I was a child. I'm now nearly seventy. I visited the site several times and can tell you it is very much worthwhile. As has already been mentioned, you can indeed visit and explore the interior. The effects of the Winter solstice is recreated inside. With regards to the Roman theory, yes Roman coins and artefacts were found there but so were such artefacts found in many places in Ireland. Buying, selling and trading with Roman Britain in the third and fourth centuries would have been common. However, Newgrange would have been three and a half thousand years old by then. The other places mentioned that are nearby are Knowth and Dowth which have been left, more or less, as they were found with millennia of grass, bushes and the ravages of time visible all around, just as Newgrange would have been. I look forward to your visit to the land of your ancestors and am curious to see how you find us.
I used to vista Ireland at least once a year to visit my Dad and a few of my siblings and tho I always wanted to see Newgrange I never made it! I will have to plan my next visit well
Nice one. I've never been but I will definitely try go up to Newgrange and the Hill of Tara.
Newgrange i(3,200 BC) s only one Neolithic/Bronze Age sructure in the Boyne Valley. Knowth is an even larger passage grave than Newgrange (two thirds of all Neolithic art is to be found inside) and is actually a double passage grave. The Dowth passage grave is nearby. The Boyne Valley is a UNESCO heritage site.
This morning, as the sun rose, it was in perfect alignment (by design) with the entrance to the tomb and illuminated it, to mark the winter solstice.
If you're visiting Ireland, it's almost sacrilegious not to visit New Grange and take the tour. Being Irish, I'm hardly independent, but each time I've been it takes my breath away. It's stunning!
I agree with you. We are irish and live on the island of Ireland.
I love that you appreciate the significance and importance of these places. Many Americans have no real interest in them.
These types of places are so beautiful and it's a lot of fun thinking about who these people were and how they built such amazing structures with so little technology. Unfortunately, you're right about most people having no real interest in this type of subject. I like most people do enjoy the more lighthearted, "fun" topics, but I wish more people would see how amazing places like this are.
@@reactingtomyroots New Grange is part of a complex called bru na boinne which includes knowth and dowth.Knowth is actually bigger than new grange and just as impressive but very different.Knowth is part of the tour ,but you can choose see one or the other depending on the time you have.I recommend history with kayleigh she has good videos on various prehistoric sites in ireland and britain,including two sites in my county sligo
I've been to Newgrange it's beyond belief how those huge stones were carried up that hill over 5.000 years ago !! Inside the chamber is absolutely amazing .
I've been to Newgrange 3 times. The first was before there was full fledged visitor center around it. There was a group of about 6 of us, and the guide took us out through the chamber. Fascinating to be in a structure olde than the pyramids! While you're in Ireland, you need to go to Glendolugh, one of the most spiritual pieces of land I've ever stood on. I could feel prayers of the centuries reverberating off of the hills!
I love you felt that ..I'm irish and new zealand does same for me
I'd recommend watching a video about Skellig Michael, one of Ireland's other three UNESCO World Heritage Sites. You may recognise it as Luke Skywalker's island sanctuary in the most recent Star Wars films.
The people who lived then were able to connect to the land/earth and it's elements so perfectly because that's all they had, the more modern the world got, the weaker the connection between us and the earth became.
Sutton hoo in England is something else worth checking out.
Sutton who ? Never heard of it
There are possibly a hundred sites like this in the Boyne river area. Near where I grew up is Lough Crew; it’s from the same era and all you need to do is ask for the key from a house at the bottom of the hill - and you have full access. We used to always go to visit in October- mushroom season…best pickin for miles around.
Hey Steve. You can book tours to Newgrange and to its accompanying passage tombs, Knowth and Dowth (though there’s not much to see at Dowth). You can go inside and the tours are excellent. There are three tombs, each built one after the other. One third of the world’s megalithic art is to be found in the Boyne Valley. Look up Bru na Boinne. It means ‘Palace of the Boyne’. There’s seems to be a pattern of settlement and sacred activity there for hundreds of years before the Pyramids were even conceived.
The Boyne River Valley is so beautiful!
I was there in early 70s when work was going on to take back the clay and soil from the quartz facing. They did a fabulous job in restoration of this site.
Hello from Ireland, I hope you visit New Grange it's gorgeous.
Greetings from Ireland. It makes me very proud of my heritage. When you come here you should also visit Saint Colmcille's house in Kells Co. Meath. Another little known monument.
Really enjoyed your reaction to Simon's video. Being Irish, Newgrange has always been a source of fascination for me, though I have only ever managed to visit the site twice - and yes, you can go into the mound all the way to the chamber, but it would be unrealistic to imagine that one will be able to gain access to the light show on the Winter Solstice as there is a years long waiting list of eager people hoping to gain that honour. It is an honour that only a lucky few will ever be able to enjoy.
Simon touched on the fact that Newgrange is just one monument among many along the Boyne, though he did not go into detail. Nearby are two other huge prehistoric mounds, known respectively as Knowth and Dowth, which I believe can also be visited, but are not as widely known or as publicised as the mighty Newgrange.
Hopeful visitors need to know that they cannot just show up at the site and gain entry. No indeed, there is a procedure which must be followed and visits are not free. A charge has been set to help finance costs for running and maintenance of the site.
Hopeful visitors must go first to the nearby visitors' centre set up by the Office of Public Works, an Irish State body that manages this and many other ancient sites in Ireland. The visitors' centre is located nearby on the other bank of the River Boyne and it includes all the expected facilites that would make any visit a pleasurable experience. There is an exhibition area, bookshop, cafe and other facilites, in addition to the ticket office where visitors can book their seats on a mini bus laid on for taking them to Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth. Mini buses depart regularly from a bus stop that is located on the other side of a footbridege and across the River Boyne.
You might like to have a look at the hill of Uishneach too ,it's one of the ancient sacred sites of Ireland it's sat to be the buriel site of Eiru after whom Ireland is named
You really should check Skara Brae which is even older by about 300 years is called Egypt of the North as there are so many neolithic sites on Orkneys. The buildings survived because they were built from stone and all mainly intact from neolithic times and you can walk through it when you visit
Is that the one with the Sottosh historian call Neil (I think) with long dark hair? It was called The Ancient Capital of the UK. I loved it, is was so gobsmacking! We thought we were all still living in czves or mud huts and this showed us how wrong we were! And the site predated Stonehenge by quite a bit. An actual stone village. Just wow
@@danellacoffey5836 Neil Oliver, he did a great one on Skara Brae but the other UA-camr, the guy with the dreadlocks, can't mind his name now. He does only Scottish history, he did a really good one but shorter obviously for UA-cam but his posts are so interesting
bruce fummey? he is brilliant@@louisemiller4970
Steve, to answer your question, Killarney National Park in Co. Kerry is the only area with extensive covering of native forest remaining in Ireland. The park was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1981.
Yes they are other places like glenveagh np and oldhead in county mayo and some in wicklow but killarney is the most extensive.
I’ve been there on a School trip years ago,,, and it’s spectacular.
In my humble opinion ancient societies probably knew more about the earth and the firmament than we do now. I think most of that knowledge was somehow lost, and there remained just a few that retained and used the power of that knowledge, like the ancient medicine men/women and the druids and shamans etc.
I agree, ancient civilizations had a greater, or at least very different connection to nature and their surroundings than we do. Likely much more "spiritual" in a sense. Associating gods with nature and building rituals around the changing of the seasons showed a far greater appreciation of nature and a desire to work with it.
Yes I think somehow knowledge was lost
"knew more about the earth" why do you think so? They knew nothing of the elements and earth's composition; DNA and biochemistry; the depths of the ocean and tectonic plates; bacteria and antibiotics.
I have no doubt that we have lost knowledge and skills the modern world can only speculate at. For example very few people today have the skill to build dry stone walls that criss-cross Britain/Ireland despite them being widely built only a couple of centuries ago.
Lacking technology such as cranes, they still built massive structures using skills long lost as humanity adopted easier solutions afforded by advancement. We have lost those skills but it doesn't mean they knew more about the earth than we do currently.
@@beardedchimp What did you not understand about "In my humble opinion" and "probably" and "I think" ????????????
@@sharonmartin4036 when I wrote "why do you think so?" I was hoping you would elucidate your opinion and why you thought so. I figured you might tell me something I didn't know and educate me through your thinking.
the sunlight part gave me the shivers (of delight)
Yes, you can enter Newgrange, there is a guided tour which takes you inside and explains about the Sunlight effects, they use artificial light to demonstrate how it works. One thing to remember if you visit, Newgranfe was re-built in the 1960s, it did not survive as you see it today, there is a lot of controversy about the re-build, including doubts about whether it actually ever looked as it does today.
Quick note: If you intend visiting this site you need to book the tour 30 days in advance. Just Google "Newgrange, Ireland" and you will find the home website easily.
When the mound was "discovered" in more recent times is was in a very poor state, especially externally. There was evidence with the remains of quantities of scattered 'quartz' and other stones that it may well have been built up at the entrance. The final bold 'restoration' that entailed the building up of the facade and retaining walls is somewhat controversial since it will never be known exactly how it looked circa 5 and a half thousand years ago, but it is certainly stunning.
Hi Steve, you should definitely check out a video of Skelig Michael, another World Heritage Site in Ireland as someone else commented below.
I'm Irish and New Grange is a purely magical place. I've visited twice and stood in the central chamber as a child. They shine a light from the roof box to simulate the rising sun as obviously the real sun only shines in on 21 Dec.
You can absolutely visit and take tours inside New Grange. To visit for dawn on Dec 21st however has a waiting list years long!!! Better hope it's not a cloudy morning!
Love your videos! Keep up the good work!
Slán (bye in Irish)
Stephen
I don't like the light box theory simply because it would be a huge coincidence that this accidental light box over the main entrance somehow perfectly lines up with the winter solstice....a day of great importance in ancient Ireland. It stinks of the narrative that ancient civilizations were not advanced or intelligent enough to achieve such feats. What we are learning more and more was there were many advanced pre historic civilizations that were lost to the past
i've twice walked from Newgrange to Glendalough (in County Wicklow) and it took six days each time... and we weren't dragging bloody big rocks with us
The two other passage tombs in the area are called Dowth and Knowth
Well... at the very start of my career as an archaeologist I dug at Knowth, back in the late 1990s.
Knowth, Dowth and Newgrange are three huge megalithic tombs, within a few miles of each other, that exist in a landscape dotted and crisscrossed by other archaeological features of similar date. Newgrange aligned with the winter solstice, Knowth has two passages, E and W, that likely originally aligned with the two equinoxes, and Dowth has other potential solar alignments for its passages. It's hard to know which astronomical events would have held greatest significance for people wholly reliant on farming. Indeed, many of the more than 300 Neolithic burial mounds, known as Long Barrows, in the UK appear to have potential solar alignments.
I've spent almost 30 years as a professional archaeologist, working on sites of every period across much of the UK. Newgrange and the other Brú na Bóinne monuments seem entirely consistent with a Neolithic date IMO (take a look at the amazing Neolithic Maeshowe in Orkney 450miles NW).
It is possible that the Romans, when they arrived, developed a cult centre in the vicinity of Newgrange, as it's quite common that later cultures venerate these ancient sites (e.g. Anglo Saxon burials are often found cut into, or close to, Bronze Age burial mounds). However, to my recollection, all the dating evidence from within the tomb itself suggests that the passage at Newgrange was sealed and its location hidden thousands of years before the Romans arrived.
We also need to recognise that the spiritual, ritual and practical parts of life were probably more closely intertwined in the distant past. There's no reason why these structures couldn't have been an astronomical clock to assist in timing the agricultural year, and places for community gatherings/decision making, and sites of ritual significance, especially when you look at them in the context of all the other Neolithic and early Bronze Age monuments in the immediate vicinity.
BTW, although it's been restored (the quartz walls for example) the passage, the corbelled tomb, the kerb stones and the size of the mound are pretty much as they have always been.
A couple of extra random facts:
the basin stones in the tomb (where the human remains were found) are actually too large to fit through the passage, so they must have been put in place and the entire edifice then built over them, and ⅓ of all the megalithic art in western Europe is on the Knowth tomb.
Please forgive me for rambling on, I tend to get a bit carried away with archaeology.
Your comments are totally correct and your assessment is excellent, I have long since argued that the site is mostly as it was, and hidden from sight, there are Thoes who detract from the people of the old world all of the world where there are so many wonderful structures. Thoes who cannot accept the reality of history, Thoes who built the pyramids or the aztec people
Or Easter island, or aincent Greece were fantastic builders in their own time.
Never heard of this amazing place, so I’ve learned something new.
Well Steve, when you come to Ireland you should do a day visiting Newgrange, Slane Castle, Hill of Slane and Battle of the Boyne, just make sure to book tours of Newgrange, Slane castle and Battle of the boyne. They’re all within a 10-15 minute drive of each other and about 45 mins north of Dublin.
tara,trim castle and tayto park for his young one are well worth a visit although its not tayto park anymore its still an amusement park.
I was there it's magical inside as well as outside a beautiful place.
I have been to Newgrange twice and it is very impressive as is the museum attached to it. More so, just go to museum. As discussed in video, there are difficulties with the site. A Senior Archaeologist and then Irish Government in the 1970 and 1980’s rebuilt the entire thing. As far as I know, Neolithic people didn’t have the knowledge of reinforced concrete. So what we now see, is other’s interpretation. But I believe an accurate interpretation at that time. But just an interpretation!
Yes, solstice points are identified. Which is fine, happy with that.
Much more to do.
The video don’t make that clear that the whole area is a theme park, with the battle of the Boyne nearby. I am much happier with Stonehenge , (admittedly another theme park) with me going around the stones and visitors around me saying “why can’t they stick those stones up in their place “
Yes, best to leave old stones as they are. But very happy that Archaeologists are busy on both sites, not sticking stones up.
Newgrange is well worth a visit. It's amazing how the people built that place, lined up the chamber with the planets and stars so the chamber floods with sunlight on the winter solstice each year. It doesn't take too long to get to Newgrange from Dublin and worth the trip
I love your enthusiasm, wonderment and understanding of this important monument. Not very common for an American. Thank you
The U.K. and Europe are covered with the remains of our past. I suggest you check out a British tv programme Time Team a program that brought archeology to the mass of the public. It ran from 1994 till 2014 (still running online) the basics of the show was a team of professional archaeologists have just 3 days to dig a site. These could be a school playing field, people’s gardens, farmers fields or any other area that might contain remains. It was a brilliant show which I still watch on UA-cam.
Yeah time team is very interesting
While some of the time team stuff is very interesting that Tony guy is a Brit through and through and can't bring himself to stop referring to Ireland as "The British Isles". That term is an old colonial hangover which is an insult to every freethinking Irish person and our predecessors who fought to free us from British control. His false sense of superiority shines through every time you watch the show and unfortunately was the reason I stopped watching as it was such a turn off.
Time Team was excellent in it's day. And they have started back up again. Awesome to see.
The UK and Ireland are in Europe.
@@condorone1501 and your point being?
Check out the superb song "Newgrange", by the wonderful Irish folk rock group Clannad from Donegal, from their album "Magical Ring". It is one of the most atmospheric and ethereal pieces you will ever hear, IMO - seen them play it live, several times. That was how I first learned of Newgrange.
That was so interesting. Thanks. I didnt know about Newgrange, but will be visiting Ireland next year so will go and visit. I don't know if you've heard of The Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland? It's a natural geological feature and just beautiful. Worth a look for some videos of it.
Great video great reaction mate
Ive never heard of this place
Love peace from England
The two videos you have shared today together have given a load of information. This site should be more widely known!
Visitor access to Newgrange is only by guided tour, there is no direct public access to Newgrange by road, except for mornings around the Winter Solstice.
I've never been there ... but it for sure is on my bucket list .....
As a kid in ireland we did a school trip to Newgrange and a few other sites around the boyne
i am 58 now so this would have been about 45 years ago
i guess the site had then been preserved but not very widely known
as part t of the trip we were allowed to into the passage tomb , shame we didnt have smart phones with cameras then
it is a spectacular site but not over run with tourists and you can sit and ahve a sandwich in the sun ( hopefully) and take in the majesty adn mystery of the place
I was very lucky to have been invited to the soloise one time many years ago,it an experience that I'll never forget,when the light come in and lights up the chamber.
Hi Steve,we really are proud of New Grange here in Ireland,there is a beautiful song call New Grange sung by the wolf tones,you really should give it a listen to,it a beautiful song, love your reaction to New Grange.
As i live close to Newgrange, i have been inside many times. Tours are organised via the nearby visitors centre, a must for history of the area and its inhabitants. Lone visits are discouraged in the intrest of preservation. The Layered slated roof is incredible.
The best way is book in advance and make a full day out of it. There is a restaurant in the centre
Yes you can go inside newgrange, tours and such, getting in on 21st of December during the solstice when the sun aligns with the chamber box though is not easy, long waiting list and all. There are more than just Nwgrange too, Knowths's another one worth visiting. There are a lot of tumbs in this local as Meath was the royal centre of ancient Ireland.
Although millennia newer, I would go to Glendalough in Co. Wicklow, a dark age monastic settlement not far from Dublin.
Glendalough is well worth a visit. Been there many times. Last time was about 10 years ago. I was with family and no-one other than myself wanted to walk around it as it was very foggy and wet. I was generally totally on my own and it was very eerie having the old monastic buildings appearing out of the mist as I walked around with the site being in total silence. It was like being transported back a thousand years.
I've been in it.. the other site is cool as well. light passes through the two smaller mounds on the other site too.They stimulate the sun passing into the chamber when you're in it.. the swirls are most likely the sun. The visitor centre is very well done.
It's magical ❤
Quartz... in one of its phases, it was quartz coverd. Going inside is a short bow backed walk, to what used to be a smelly damp chamber that you could just about stand up right in... but it still does the soltice thingy
The Irish and British Isles.....fáilte.
I'd like to add,... I'm a subscriber of Simon, for this very reason.... his investigation is extremely accurate and immensely intelligently put together, you couldn't have done more if you were a local such as myself who is obsessed with history, especially my own local. I live in a house that was at the very least built in 1734, under a castle. 😁👍🇮🇪
We (hubby and I) started watching you tonight, the Riverdance... we enjoyed watching your face do what everyone's did (and still do) when they first encounter Riverdance. We're very proud to be Irish 😁👍🇮🇪
My theory is that they dragged the stones up there on sledges during the winter, then put them in place after the first seeds were sown.
I was there last week. This place is a gem! I was so that I chose at our of Newgrange. Yes, you can go inside.
Hi. I heard this story back in the 80's where arial photos where taken of the surrounding area and when compared to inscriptions on the surrounding standing stones the geography topography they matched. If the story's true they were also amazing cartographers.
When I was a little girl in the 70s I feel like I remember being able to park real close and just walking up to it and going in. The last time I was there no one can get anywhere near it. Everyone has to have tours and the tours do let you in, but you won't get parking your car anywhere near it...... just where the tour companies leave from (which isn't far)
Ah, me too. When I was learning to drive & loved going out by myself for drives out of Dublin, Remember a few times, driving right to it in the 80s & walking in. It was open & no one else there. Used to love going there for picnics as so peaceful. Its been restored alot since with access controlled. Think I prefer the times I used to visit.
Yeah years ago you could go right up to it and there was very few to no tourists around..
Love it , Ireland is stunning 😍.
There are similar buildings underground that use the same techniques on the coast of Scotland - each mound/house are smaller but all watertight and have the same slab stones used inside.
It's certain that it was the same people doing the same thing all over the place.
I am an Irishman and when I was a kid we went and were allowed inside, unless thats changed now idk but i doubt it because they jave tour guilds. Well worth a visit.
Do all of these sites and what they tell us affect me too? 60 years old North Walian? Hell yes. To imagine how many men toiled how many hours a day chipping away at quartz , using something like large river pebbles as hammers. How many others in their groups carried all that stone to them, probably in woven leather or grass baskets. Who fed them? Who was responsible for providing food? It's astounding, breath taking. I remember an account of a metal bowl excavated from some ancient dwelling and still inside it were earrings. Earrings!!! They showed them, dangly copper things.
Just like many women today, I've got a similar bowl, and the sound of our earrings being dropped in would be the same. I heard that sound in my head and it was like a wormhole through time opened up. I love watching your excitement, and I can get that it's hard to wrap your head around coming from a nation proud of it's youth (not judging). I think our excitement comes more from a sense of pride and connection.
Ahem.... feel like I got a bit carried away there. But there it is.
This channel is great! Steve should have at minimum a 100k subscribers!
Thanks for the kind words. I really appreciate it. :)
Yes you can get a tour and go right inside the chamber it’s kinda scary tbh but it’s well worth it
There is a song called New Grange (Brú Ná Boinne) you might enjoy too., I remember visiting this place as a child and it still gives me goosebumps just hearing the name "New Grange" it truly is an awesome spectacle. If you are coming to Ireland and would like someone to ask questions of, I am born and bred Irish and speak Gaeilge (irish language) fluently, I am more than happy to talk about Ireland too as our history and heritage is something I love more than anything else and can easily talk hours about it.
It's even more impressive in real life
You should definitely take a look at the Anglo Saxon ship burial at Sutton hoo Oland some of the hoards found all over the UK and Ireland or treasures ploughed up in fields like Roman necklaces made of gold xx
Newgrange has been connected with the sun since at least the medival period.
It has conections with two sun gods.
Local folklore before it was even excavated mentioned that the sun shone into it in older times.
Newgrange is a truly magical place ♥️
great reaction! you should defo check out the history of the isles of scilly, loads of history, ancient building, a history of pirates, and loads of shipwrecks, and the scenery is amazing!
These people needed to know when the days would start to get longer in order to know when to plant their seed. echoes of this can be found in myth, like gods bringing light from the darkness.
as to Iberia, well the people were the same people as the Iberian's, farmers out of Anatolia.
There’s plenty of smaller sites that are easily accessible but Newgrange is pretty much closed to the public now.
I noticed you said what people thought when they discovered New grange, like you did with Stonehenge in the other video. People would have lived in around both since they were erected. So no one would have stumbled across them but stories of why they are there would have been passed down through generations.
You might be interested in looking up Time Team - archeology for the masses
I've been inside twice ! Both as a child though. Have to go back as an adult.
Why don’t you come and visit us?🇮🇪❤️
I suspect that the astronomical alignment must date from the Neolithic, because there are many other examples of such alignments for megalithic monuments of the period.
Carbon dating puts it at 3500 +/- BC
I grew up less than 10mins from Newgrange and it still amazes me everytime I see it. Its hard to get a sense of scale from videos. You can go directly to the site by car but you wont be allowed in. To get inside you must travel to the Brú na Boinne intepretation site closer to Drogheda. From there you can go on a bus tour which brings you to the site. Be aware thst you MUST book in advance as I've heard of a lot of people who haven't and have had their plans ruined by this mistake. Its badly advertised from what I hear so not the tourists fault. If you are driving, BE CAREFUL, these are small Irish country back roads and as an American you'll be on the opposite side of the road in a RHD car. Its a lot tondeal with. Hope this helps.
human logic is a crazy thing
They live stream winter solstice in the chamber at Newgrange every year. Check it out later this year.
The tomb at Maes Howe in Orkney is the same where the mid winter sun set shines through the tomb entrance and the inside is bathed in red light. Mind with the Orkney weather sun around the solstice is not to be relied upon.
@@richardthomas2818 I am fortunate to have visited both sites. 😁
Really? how do you know they don't just repeat the same video?
@@theotherside8258 *LOL* Because sometimes it's cloudy and ... well ... the effect doesn't happen. So, you have to switch to the Maeshowe livestream and hope that it's sunny there instead.
32:30 - you can use satellite imagery to look back further, Google Earth appears to only have views as far back as 2009. Old photos can be found online. Knowth & Dowth are considered sister sites to Newgrange and have been less adulterated. There are plenty of photos of all the sites prior to work - 32:14 Newgrange does look completely different sadly.
Newgrange is well worth a visit. You can get tours from Dublin inside the chamber.
Might want to look up the Equinox of grianan aileach which is not far from where I grew up
Simon does narrate some awesome videos id just wish he'd stop referring to Ireland as being apart of the British Isles. Such an outdated term.
Outdated and imperlistic
i have been there. but we but booked the trip before we left
While it is true that Michael O'Kelly led the restoration of Newgrange in the 60's and 70's, this took 14 years and was as accurate as possible. Newgrange is not the only Neolithic tomb or monument to have a portal reacting to the Winter solstice, there are others in Ireland, the UK and on mainland Europe so that argument doesn't stand. When you visit Ireland be sure to book a tour on the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre website, and yes, you can go inside the mound, although it is a tight squeeze and not for anyone claustrophobic. Travel by bus 30 miles north of Dublin to the town of Drogheda, from the Bus Centre the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre is just over 5 miles, buses leave 4 times daily or a local taxi can be arranged.
Admission to the site during the Winter Solstice is limited to dignitaries, usually the president and Taoiseach, the only unwashed admitted are by a lottery decided by local school children. To be fair, during this time there is always a bunch of hippies and lunatics outside the site banging drums and waiting for ET. A right bunch of gobshites.
Yes of course you can go inside. The facade you see now was not there when I visited as a child but inside looked just the same as it does today
The facades were covered in by soil, it looked different then until it was cleared back.
as it stands now, it fits the descriptions written of it through history and is also just an extra large version of homes built here at the time, right down to the exposed stone wall! where as if that was a path around it , it would be roman but if it was it would be the only roman path in ,ireland! so which do you think is more likely?
Loved this and yesterday's video. These structures seem to be connected by the people's same awareness of nature and the Solstice. Surely they are the same 'builder' peoples at work? Or is that a too simplistic view?
Thanks JJ. I can't imagine these people weren't connected in some way. It just doesn't make sense that we have all these structures built in completely different areas by groups of people without connections. Even if I'm wrong it's still a lot of fun to contemplate who these people were and what their lives were like.
Ì have always been fascinated by Newgrange and how carefully it was constructed to catch the first rays of sun on the winter solstice. Obviously the sun was venerated but who were these people?
The biggest miracle with the chamber taking the sunlight in on the winter solstice is the fact that you would probably have to wait for years to find a sunny day in the middle of winter in Ireland to know what the sun did.
p.s. it was probably a brewery!
That sunlight trick sort of says the place was always open. If it was sealed up what point would there be in it because if it was only opened 1 day a year you would get people like me saying how do your know it doesn't do that everyday. Its like the fridge light. Or instead of being done to impress was it just so someone could do a bit or work in there once a year like smoke the rats out
Amadán. Go plough a small field
I think it looked similar now to its original construction. Did the quartz stone just form a flat ring around the mound?
Anyone living in Ireland(I do) would understand that such rocks laid flat in our climate would not stay clean as leaves and grass with would quickly fill the voids and cover it completely within a few years. So, it makes sense that the quartz formed a vertical wall which required no maintenance rather than a path that would be difficult to walk on due to the round sharp quartz rocks that would disappear under foliage and clay quite quickly.
The roof box, that lights the chamber, is most likely correct as the passage itself just happens to be placed on the exact line to allow the sun to illuminate the chamber during the Solstice, if it wasn't about the winter solstice they had 359 other degrees to choose from....but didn't.
Cool i live not far from slane
#3:43 Well, Göbekli Tepe (Türkiye) was built long before Newgrange; nothing more and nothing less than in the 10th millennium BC. C. (between 9600 and 8200 BC)! Göbekli Tepe is the oldest known megalithic complex, built six thousand years before the Newgrange monument. Göbekli Tepe is the oldest temple or sanctuary in the world, and the place where "the first consciousness of the sacred" could be born; that is, the birth of the first religion and that gave way to "the spark of civilization"
Steve, At 11:47 you question where the builders of New-grange may have come from. The previous video stated the new comers who where farmers arrived around 4000BC. New grange being built around 3300BC. I think we can safely say who built it. Remember the new world was only found around 700 hundred years ago.
big clock so farmers know when to plant food like trying to find out when winter or summer is coming for more crop
The site is about 12 miles from the sea on the bend of the Boyne which flows into that sea. The land is very fertile, the river at that time would have been teaming with trout and salmon. Yes you can go inside. It is by guided tour and takes about one and a half hours. It takes a day to see it and Dowth and Nowth nearby. If you call in the morning you should be accommodated. Better contact the centre before you call and devote a whole day for it. Some bones were found many years ago and preserved by the government, these were recently checked for DNA. The restorers tried to do it accurately and did not change the interior. All the materials are original except a small amount of cement mortar hidden from view. The large standing stones lining the passage came from Clogherhead beach 20 miles away. There is a spell on the large carved stone on the ground at the entrance. If you touch it you will bever be able to stop talking. They recently put wooden steps to get over it without touching it.
You might be interested in the oldest, but relatively unknown construction on earth - Göbekli Tepe in Turkey from 9500BCE.
Near me there is a carved cave where catholics hid themselves after Henry the 8th and the reformation of the church. It is a very ornate but very scary place, one of our friends brought firelighters to light up the caverns for photos. It was nice until spiders started dropping from the ceiling me and my friend legged it and spent a day brushing ourselves off. But yeah its a very interesting place
I absolutely love your prehistory stuff. Anyone can do the normal Kings snd Queens and tbf that's interesting but the prehistory stuff is amazing
In 1967 Prof Gerald Hawkins published Stonehenge Decoded, his record of the first use of computers to analyse the astronomical alignments there. In the book he assessed the manpower needed to build just the earth ditch/bank around the earliest layout, making a guess at the relative effort it needed from the population of the area at the time. He then compared it with the %age GDP that America was spending at that time on the Appollo mission, and showed that Stonehenge needed a much greater relative effort. He therefore suggested that Stonehenge inspired it's builders even more than JFK's commitment to put a man on the Moon. I suspect that New Grange should be thought of in the same terms, as an inspirational goal for the Irish people as a whole.