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

Description of Kerbstone 83

A large number of natural hollows, some round and some elongated, occur in slightly sloped, vertical rows. Many have picking around the edges, and some are incorporated into picked motifs. A horizontal line with close-set pickmarks runs across the middle of the stone. On the right, the line turns down alongside a natural hollow. At the left the line curves slightly downwards and ends at a flaked edge.

Above the line on the left two sets of three boxed Us are picked, one set opening to the lower left and the other opening upwards. Below the horizontal line there are three further sets of boxed Us on the left. To the right is a double circle enclosing a central hollow, a set of three arcs opening down to the left, and an anti-clockwise spiral of four-and-a-half turns.

To the right, a line of five natural hollows is enclosed in a long rectangle with rounded corners, and to its right again, is a vertical serpentiform, the bottom line of which curves upwards at the right and then downwards again. Much of the stone exhibits dispersed pickmarks made with a small- or medium-sized point. Some roughly vertical, parallel lines near the bottom edge are probably natural or the result of accidental damage.

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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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