Knowth Kerbstone K94
Kerbstone K94 is one of the 127 kerbstones numbered in Professor George Eogan's record of the Knowth monument. It is located on the north-western side of the great passage tomb mound.
Knowth Kerbstone K94 | Photo by Clare Tuffy.
The Megalithic Art of the Passage Tombs at Knowth, Co. Meath
Description of Kerbstone 94
The upper part of the stone is weathered and the motifs here are not clear, At the top-center there is a set of three concentric circles/arcs, the upper parts of which are very faint. These are enclosed by three/four shallow arcs on the left. To the right is another set of three concentric circles or arcs, and further right is a double concentric circle.
A row of three larger motifs runs below the top row; all are variants of concentric ovoids, gapped at the top. Below this row are two small sets of double gapped circles, symmetrically placed between the larger motifs. The picking on the lower part of the stone is better preserved than on the top of the stone and is done with medium/large points. Chisels with a broad-to-medium cutting edge were also used, and some triangular pickmarks may be noted on the right side.
Excavations at Knowth Volume 7: The Megalithic Art of the Passage Tombs at Knowth, Co. Meath
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Knowth Stone Age passage tomb
K94 forms part of the ceremonial kerb documented during decades of excavation at Brú na Bóinne by Professor George Eogan and his team. Originally 127 kerbstones encircled the monument; three are now missing. Most of the survivors bear panels of curvilinear and circular ornament. Some compositions suggest careful observation of lunar rhythms, a theme that runs through much of the art at Knowth.
Medieval texts and local folklore associate Knowth with the royal cemetery of the Boyne and with ancestral powers of the land. The concentration of labour required to build Brú na Bóinne implies strong leadership and shared belief among Neolithic communities.
Later seasons of excavation exposed nineteen smaller tombs clustered around the main mound, along with pottery, house foundations and flint tools from an earlier Neolithic phase of settlement in the area, perhaps dating to around 4000 BC.
Inside the eastern tomb, the carved granite basin in the right-hand recess is among the finest Neolithic artefacts in Ireland. The block is so massive that the chamber appears to have been constructed around the basin rather than the reverse.