The lunar symbolism of kerb stone 78 at Knowth

This is kerb stone 78 at Knowth, located not far from the entrance to the western passage. It is one of 127 kerb stones at Knowth, of which 90 have megalithic art. But what do these symbols represent, if anything? Are they merely art for art’s sake?

Kerb stone 78 at Knowth. Picture © Anthony Murphy

American artist Martin Brennan published a book called The Stars and the Stones in 1984, having studied and drawn the megalithic art on almost all of the known decorated prehistoric stone sites in Ireland. Brennan’s overall supposition was that the ancient engravings at Neolithic sites such as Newgrange, Knowth, Loughcrew, and many others, were related to astronomy. His book was later republished as The Stones of Time.

The main plank of Brennan’s hypothesis was that the megalithic mounds and art are “interconnected, sophisticated calendar devices”. The summary on the back cover of the book says:

At critical times of the year, the rising or setting sun projects beams of light into the inner chambers of the mounds, illuminating specific images carved on the stones. Those images – seemingly abstract wheels, spirals, and wavy lines – suggest provocative new insights into their makers’ understanding of celestial cycles and the importance of those cycles in human affairs.

Brennan’s interpretation of kerb stone 78 (which he labelled as stone NW4 in his own personally devised numbering convention) is that it contains a diagrammatic representation of the moon through the use of what he calls “bijections or one-to-one correspondences with the phases of the moon”.

Brennan suggests that lunar imagery predominates on the kerb stones on the western portion of the great kerb of Knowth, where the crescents and arcs that dominate the imagery were generated by an interest in the moon and the division of time long before the age of mechanical clocks.

The crescents, waved lines and circles on Kerb 78 represent the phases of the moon, according to Brennan.

A ribbon-like development of the wavy line extends from the central image. The line follows a sequence shaped to fit the lunar month. The wavy line is transformed into crescents and then a full circle or full moon on the fourteenth count. A line divides the rest of the month, towards the end of which the crescents revert to the wavy line at the last quarter, defining a month of 30 days.

He proposed a second way of ordering the month using a different interpretation of the symbols. The top line counts from the first day of the moon as far as the seventeenth day, which is the day upon which the moon begins to wane. The sequence continues at the bottom of the stone, as far as day 27 and the last visible crescent. A final three-count wave represents the three invisible days of the moon.

Brennan's alternative lunar month count for kerb stone 78, Knowth.

The number 17 is often treated with special significance in connection with the moon, he says. "It may have had significance in a calendar of ritual. Usually it is the seventeenth phase of the moon which appears on the horizon and projects a beam of light into the mounds."

Brennan’s work is not without its detractors, and the analysis and categorisation of megalithic art has been an area of debate and dispute. Some scholars argue that the megalithic art is abstract and non-representative. Brennan, however, develops a comprehensive thesis around the astronomical symbolism and, coupled with his team’s important discoveries at Loughcrew and Dowth*, it all makes for a fascinating interpretation.

Kerb stone 78 at Knowth.

* Brennan, along with Jack Roberts and others, discovered that the southern passage at Dowth is aligned so that light from the setting sun on winter solstice reaches the stones at the rear of its circular chamber. They also discovered that Cairn T at Loughcrew is aligned so that a stone with solar emblems at the rear of its chamber is bathed with sunlight at dawn on the vernal and autumnal equinoxes.

Further reading

Knowth: archaeological and astronomical legacy

Knowth's Calendar Stone
The 19-year Metonic Cycle of the moon

Anthony Murphy (Mythical Ireland) with Martin Brennan at Newgrange.

The celebration of Samhain/Hallowe'en probably goes right back into prehistoric times in Ireland

Samhain is, by many accounts, the most important calendar festival in ancient Ireland. It was considered the beginning of wintertime, and the dark half of the year. Its opposite festival was Bealtaine, in May, contrasting Samhain with the renewal of life and the blossoming of many trees and flowers.

One of the most fascinating aspects of Samhain is its endurance in popular celebration. Today, we continue to celebrate Samhain as Hallowe'en, when we light bonfires, set off fireworks, and play games. The lighting of fires at sacred times in the calendar is a practice that is very very ancient.

In this video, I speak about Samhain and its celebration, and its origins. There is a reading from the work of Celtic scholar James Mackillop, on the importance of the festival of Samhain and how many things that happen at this sacred time of year are highlighted in the ancient texts.

Hallowe'en fires in Ireland.

Every third year, an important Feis or gathering was held at the Hill of Tara on Samhain. At the nearby Tlachtga, or Hill of Ward, the lighting of the Samhain fires was a fundamentally important act. That ceremony has been reestablished in modern times. Samhain was a time when it was thought most favourable for a woman to become pregnant.

In Mag Slécht in Cavan, the "principal idol" of ancient Ireland by Christian scribes, Crom Crúach, was worshipped. It is suggested that human sacrifices might have been offered to Crom Crúach, who was in fact called "Samhain" by some scholars.

Significant action that takes place at Samhain is highlighted in some of the early Irish texts. For instance, it is at Samhain that the Fomorians extract their taxes of corn, milk and live children. The demon Aillén mac Midgna came to Tara every year at Samhain to burn it down, until he was eventually defeated by Fionn Mac Cumhaill. A similar demon, known as Aillén Tréchenn (from trí ceann, three-headed) came from Cruachan in Roscommon, and caused havoc in all of Ireland, especially Emain Macha (Armagh) and Tara. The warrior Cúchulainn, who we encounter in the Táin Bó Cuailnge, encounters otherwordly damsels at Samhain, and of course this was the hallowed time of year when Aongus Óg and his otherwordly lover Caer flew off together in the form of swans (see the Cygnus Enigma).

Sunset around Samhain from the ancient burial mound of Knowth/Cnogba.

Samhain was also the time when Midir whisked Englec away from Knowth/Cnogba, according to the Dindshenchas text about how that ancient monument got its name. Englec, a daughter of Elcmar, was the lover of Aonghus, but he was playing Samhain games with his friends. Midir took her away, to Síd ar Femin (Slievenamon in Co. Tipperary). Finding that she is gone, Aonghus performs a strange ceremony of mourning for her. He casts some "blood red nuts of the forest", which are hazel nuts, on the ground and makes a lamentation around them. American researcher Helen McKay has suggested that this is a metaphor for the children who died in Stone Age times, and that the casting of the nuts on the ground represents the placing of the bone fragments of the deceased on to the floor of the chamber of Knowth. (See separate blog post on the Nut Lamentation here).

I was lucky to have been able to visit Knowth yesterday, shortly before the monument is closed for the winter. I think it's ironic that the site should close at Samhain, when Aonghus's lover was whisked away and he lamented for her, and that it opens again at Easter, which may be an important aspect of Knowth's astronomical function.

Knowth's name is an anglicisation of its ancient Irish name - Cnogba, which according to the Dindshenchas is either from Cnoc Bua, the Hill of Bua/Buí, an ancient goddess, or Cnó Guba, the Nut Lamentation.

Of further significance is that some ancient stone monuments appear to have alignments towards Samhain sunrises and sunsets. For instance, Duma na nGiall or Mound of the Hostages on Tara, has a passage that faces (broadly speaking) the sunrise on Samhain and Imbolc (November/February cross-quarter festival). Dowth's northern passage points towards Newgrange for Samhain sunset (pictured below in a view from the top of Dowth mound).

Samhain sunset over Newgrange viewed from Dowth.

Cairn L at Carnbane West at Loughcrew (Sliabh na Caillighe) points towards Samhain sunrise, as seen in this wonderful video from Victor Reijs:

Another video of the Cairn L alignment by John Willmott features some beautiful photos set to gorgeous music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyCE8jzWILM