Knowth Kerbstone K94

Knowth is a Neolithic passage tomb in the Boyne Valley and part of the Brú na Bóinne UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its great mound was originally edged by 127 kerbstones, many carved with spirals, circles, zigzags, and other abstract motifs. This page looks at Kerbstone K94, one of Knowth's decorated kerbstones.

The upper part of the stone is weathered, and the motifs in this area are unclear. At the top center is a set of three concentric circles or arcs, the upper portions of which are very faint. These are enclosed on the left by three or four shallow arcs. To the right is another set of three concentric circles or arcs, with a double concentric circle further to the right.

Below the top row is a line of three larger motifs, all variations of concentric ovoids that are gapped at the top. Beneath this row are two small sets of double gapped circles, symmetrically positioned between the larger motifs. The picking on the lower part of the stone is better preserved than that on the upper part and was carried out using medium to large points. Chisels with a broad to medium cutting edge were also used, and some triangular pick marks can be seen on the right side.

K94 stands on the northwestern side of the mound. The lower carvings are clearer than those near the top, where weathering has softened the lines. Look for the row of three large oval motifs with gaps at the top, and the smaller paired circles set symmetrically between them.

Medieval texts linked Knowth with royal burial in the Boyne Valley. Inside the eastern tomb, the carved granite basin in the right-hand recess is among the finest Neolithic objects in Ireland, so massive that the chamber appears to have been built around it rather than the reverse.

Further Reading

The definitive guide to Knowth's carved stones is Excavations at Knowth Volume 7: The Megalithic Art of the Passage Tombs at Knowth, Co. Meath, edited by Professor George Eogan and Dr Elizabeth Shee Twohig and published as part of the Excavations at Knowth series. It is the official record of megalithic art from decades of excavation at Brú na Bóinne.

The entry for Kerbstone K94 sets out its rows of gapped ovoid motifs and paired circles, and describes how the lower carvings are better preserved than those near the top of the stone.

Knowth was built around 3200 to 2900 BC, and this volume covers one of the site's most remarkable features: its carved stones. All 390 decorated kerbstones, passage stones and chamber stones are catalogued with written descriptions, line drawings and photographs. Six main art styles are identified and explained, along with the motifs and carving techniques the Neolithic builders used.

Knowth accounts for about 46 percent of all passage-tomb art in Ireland and roughly a third of the megalithic art recorded in Europe. The book also places Knowth in a wider context, comparing its carvings with those at other Irish tombs, sites in western and northern Britain, and earlier megalithic art across Atlantic Europe. If you have walked the kerb at Knowth and want to understand what you saw, this is the reference to keep.

Purchase from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk. A free digital edition is available from the Digital Repository of Ireland.