Altar: Wedge Tomb CO148-005

Altar Wedge Tomb is conveniently located on the edge of Toormore Bay in West Cork, between Schull and Goleen, right beside the R592 and with a good parking area. It is about 4000 years old, has been excavated & restored and is owned by the state. National Monument no.645.

South is close to the left-hand land side of the sea horizon [Pic].

North is in a dip, at a step in the nearby ridge [Pic].

A new house and it's attendant plantings are a rather unfortunate addition to the north-eastern skyline. This is quite close but has been very usefully fitted to both the solar & lunisticeLunistices are the most northerly and southerly moons of the month. The lunar equivalent of solstices - more. cycles. The tomb's axis would seem to be towards the summer cross-quarters. The axial orientation of this wedge-tomb and the one 5.5km to the north-east at Ratooragh are similar in both directions and worth comparing.

The eastern horizon, though close and relatively smooth, does provide some useful points and could be easily adjusted by changing the observing position.

The south-eastern skyline is a bit more distant again with the cross-quarters, the solstice and the lunar major eighth getting the most obvious markers.

South-westwards, the tomb may seem to look towards the distant point of Mizen peak but actually it is indicating a rather broader sweep of horizon. With the winter cross-quarter falling on a lesser point just to its south, the peak itself is not an accurate marker and was never intended to be the focus of attention.

The orientation of the tomb actually covers a period of a month or so centred on the cross-quarter day but the entire south-western horizon quadrant provides a whole series of useful markers for both the solar and lunistice cycles.

Particularly of note is the way that the lunistice zone has been set, with the sixteenths adjacent to the limits at both ends accurately marked by a prominent point. At the major end, the rocks in the sea make a good vernier scale for measuring the position of the moon's edge and a rugged rocky slope does the same at the minor end.

To the west, the cross-quarter / equinox mid­point is at the basal step of a long slope leading up to the equinox itself which gets a marker capable of good precision. Then we see how a prominent hilltop may be passed over if its use would compromise the overall best fit.

North-westwards, the cross-quarter is on a low hilltop with its quarter-month bracket at the basal notch and the solstice in a dip of the rising ridge. Because of the overall fit, the lunistice range does not end on a prominent point but the hillslope is sufficiently rocky to provide distinct profiles in silhouette against the moon's disc.

This site was excavated in 1989 and no construction date was obtained. The earliest dated activity at 2316-1784 cal B.C. 2-sigma (O'Brien 1999:134) was a spread of sediment containing charcoal, cremated bone and an unburnt tooth. Pits either side of the entrance contained debris from the tooling of the slabs. This is particularly interesting because pits containing broken stone were also found at two stone circles. The only external finds apart from pieces of flint were three boulders judged to be natural erratics and a single stakehole immediately the outside entrance kerb. This latter could be from site optimisation activity prior to the building of the monument. Two further stakeholes, close together inside the tomb, were filled with sediment that was dated to early medieval times. Therefore they cannot be attributed to pre-tomb-building activity even though the driving of stakes into the floor of the tomb after it was built seems an awkward and unlikely activity.

There is another excavated Wedge Tomb in Toormore, 780m north-west (320°) of this one. It has not been surveyed because it is in a garden with trees planted around it. A number of other wedge tombs on this peninsula have not been surveyed either.

• Arderrawinny Portal Tomb is 1.6km east (72°)
• Gubbeen Unclassified Tomb is 5.0km north-east (63°)
• Ratooragh Wedge Tomb is 5.5km north-east (31°)

Technical Notes | Top

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References

• Archaeological Survey of Ireland, record details. www.archaeology.ie/archaeological-survey-ireland
• DE VALERA, RUAIDHRÍ & Ó'NUALLÁIN, SEÁN 1982 Survey of the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland, Volume IV: Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Tipperary. Dublin: Stationary Office. p41, no.61.
• O'BRIEN, BILLY 1989 1989:008 The Altar, Altar. www.excavations.ie
• O'BRIEN, WILLIAM 1999 Sacred Ground: Megalithic Tombs in Coastal South-West Ireland. Galway: National University of Ireland.
• POWER, D. et al. 1992 Archaeological Inventory of County Cork, Volume 1: West Cork. Dublin: Stationary Office. p14, no.2.