Art - Pre Christian Ireland

time period known as pre christian ireland

4000-AD 500

stone age period

4000-2000AD

bronze age period

2500-500 BC

iron age period

500 BC - AD 400

main structures for the stone age

dolmen, court cairn, passage grave

newgrange drawings

entrance stone, light box, plan, section, kerbstone, range of quartz stones etc

stone age curved line designs (5)

concentric circles, spirals, arcs, serpentiforms, dot in circle

stone age straight line designs

chevrons, lozenges, radials, parallel lines, offsets

neolithic

New Stone Age, from 3700-200BC. Greek origin. When farming and tool making evolved, people began to settle in permanent communities

corbelled vaults

built on standing stones of the chamber of a passage mound in gradually decreasing circles of large flat stones sloping slightly outwards. rings of stones were self supporting and grow smaller until dome was finally closed by a single stone.

stone dressing

rough areas and a thin layer of stone removed with a stone chisel to improve colour and surface. done to knowth and newgrange stones

incision

simple cuts or scratches made using a sharp flint on less elaborately decorated stones

materials during stone age*

wood, stone, clay

megalithic

used large stones to build tombs and monuments (greek origins ‘mega’ ‘lithos’)

dolmens

3-7 large stone legs support one or two capstones. known as portal dolmens as the entrance can look like a gate

court cairn

combination of a burial chamber inside a cairn of stones with an open court in front of it

kerbstones

large stones laid end to end surrounding the base of passage mounds. some are 3 to 4m long and over 1m high. kerb may have been laid out to define shape and retain filling material

bronze

alloy of copper and tin, made from native copper and Cornwall tin

repoussé

used to create raised design on a flat surface. thin sheet of gold cut to shape laid face down on a firm surface to be worked on from the back. pattern created using tracers, which were pressed or hammered into the surface to produce a design. turned face up to reveal design projecting from surface. delicate

incision

decoration was incised with a scriber