Knowth Kerbstone K11, the entrance stone of the Eastern Tomb. The greywacke stone is 3 meters (10 foot) long, greywacke is a type of coarse sandstone. The central groove on the stone is directly in line with the standing stone outside as well as the long passage within.

The Megalithic Art of the Passage Tombs at Knowth, Co. Meath

Description of Kerbstone 11

Stage 1 comprises a number of motifs, which underlie the Stage 2 carvings that dominate the stone. They include an incised grid pattern on the left of the main face, with a smaller example just to the right, Low down is a lightly picked two-turn clockwise spiral enclosed in an arc (or possibly a third turn of the spiral). A vertical row of chevrons runs down the center of the main face of the stone. On the top surface, to the left is a double circle with an arc between the circles and two further arcs outside them.

Stage 2: the carving belonging to this stage occupies both the whole of the stone's main surface and its top, and is arranged around the natural contours of the stone. The picked lines are broad and ribbon-like. A vertical line slightly right of center is placed in a natural hollow of the stone and continues onto the top surface. A narrower line lies parallel to it on the right, and there is a short, vertical line between the two. Two large motifs occupy the resulting spaces on the stone.

That on the left is more complete, and from the center outwards consists of a gapped circle, another around this with slightly squared upper corners, and a third, which is distinctly squared on the top-right. Five boxed rectangles, which are open at the bottom, enclose this, again with the top-right corner being more angular than the top-left. An arc runs between the second and third rectangle from the outside. At the bottom-left these clearly overlie the stage 1 spiral. The right half of the stone has a similar motif, but this is incomplete on the lower-right, where the stone is very irregular. All these rectangles are deeply picked (averaging 10mm in depth), and the natural surface stands out as ridges between the picked channels/ribbons.

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Knowth is a Stone Age Passage Tomb in the Boyne Valley in Ireland's Ancient East and together with Newgrange and Dowth are the principal sites of Brú na Bóinne UNESCO World Heritage Site. Knowth is the largest passage tomb of the Brú na Bóinne complex. The main mound is about 12 metres (40 ft) high and 67 metres (220 ft) in diameter covering about 1 hectare (2.5 acres). It contains two passages placed along an east-west line and was originally encircled by 127 kerbstones of which 124 are still in place.

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