A Dolmen in Ireland

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While in Ireland we visited several dolmens and stone circles. Dolmens may be called portal tombs or graves. I found these quite fascinating. Dolmens appear in many countries. Wikipedia defines a dolmen as 'usually consisting of three or more upright stones supporting a large, flat, horizontal capstone'. They were constructed as tombs and apparently were usually covered with smaller stones and/or earth. In most cases the dirt has weathered away, leaving only the larger stones. Poulnabrone dolmen is situated in the Burren, County Clare, Ireland and dates back to the Neolithic period (4200 BCE and 2900 BCE). Its twelve-foot capstone is a thin slab and supported by two slender stones. The capstone is 6 feet from the ground, creating a chamber. The entrance to the chamber faces north and has a low sill stone. When the eastern portal stone collapsed around 1985, the dolmen was dismantled and reassembled with the cracked stone being replaced. Excavations were carried out during that period, revealing that 16 to 22 adults and six children had been buried under the dolmen. Personal artefacts were also found. The Burren, meaning 'great rock', is a large karst landscape measuring about 250 square kilometres. The limestone surface supports very little vegetation and is uninviting and barren. The dolmen dominates the immediate area and would have been a significant feature in its time. We also saw a number of stone circles. Of course, the best known of these is Stonehenge in England but there are many others. They intrigue tourists more than they do locals. The size and number of stones varies as does the shape of the 'circle'. The sheer age of these things takes my breath away.