Knowth Kerbstone K15
Kerbstone K15 is one of the 127 kerbstones numbered in Professor George Eogan's record of the Knowth monument. It is located on the south-eastern side of the great passage tomb mound.
Knowth K15, the Sundial Stone | Photo: National Monuments Service
The megalithic art of the passage tombs at Knowth, Co. Meath
Description of Kerbstone 15
The dominant motif here is a semi-circle of twenty (one partial) picked lines radiating out from a small cupmark/dot. The radial lines widen outwards and all, except for two towards the left, terminate in a small rectangle. There are three extra rectangles towards the right. A larger square/rectangular motif is picked beyond each of the small rectangles, followed by another small rectangle. A second small cupmark is picked above the first. This is enclosed within a large oval motif, which is picked all over and is partially enclosed in an oval outer line which is doubled at the right.
At the upper-left of the oval there is a row of U-motifs, or possibly a small serpentiform, and a dot-and-circle. Beyond these, at the left of the stone, a row of circles curves outside the ends of the radial lines and two curved lines enclose the circles, to the left. To the right of the main face there is a large anti-clockwise spiral of seven turns. A number of motifs are arranged around the right side of the spiral. There are three small circles and an oval above it, and a series of single and double U-motifs to its right and below it. Further right is a small spiral with a series of zigzags above it, and a small, irregular circle above to the right. Below the spiral there are eight circles, one with a central dot.
Excavations at Knowth Volume 7: The Megalithic Art of the Passage Tombs at Knowth, Co. Meath
Purchase at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk. View or download at Digital Repository of Ireland.
Knowth Kerbstone 15 | Visual effects by Ken Williams
Knowth Kerbstone 15 illuminated for the spectacular opening sequence of the RTÉ TV “Shine Your Light” winter solstice special which was broadcast on 20 December 2020. Projection mapping by Algorithm, photo by Ken Williams.
Kerbstone K15 (SE4) the Sundial Stone. Drawing by Martin Brennan
Scan of Knowth Kerbstone K15
Knowth Kerbstone K15 by Ken Williams
Knowth Stone Age passage tomb
Among the surviving kerbstones at Knowth, K15 contributes to the largest open-air gallery of Neolithic art in western Europe. The passage tombs of the Boyne were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993. Knowth, Newgrange and Dowth together represent one of the richest prehistoric landscapes in Europe, valued for their age, scale and megalithic art.
The central cairn is accompanied by nineteen satellite mounds. Knowth holds roughly a quarter of all recorded megalithic art in western Europe, with two major passages and decades of scientific excavation behind the story told today.
Kerbstone K15, photographed during excavations at Knowth.
Knowth was raised more than five thousand years ago in the Neolithic period, around 3200 BC, when established farming communities were shaping the Boyne Valley. Together with Newgrange and Dowth, it forms the heart of the Brú na Bóinne World Heritage landscape.
Originally 127 kerbstones encircled the monument; three are now missing. Most of the survivors bear panels of curvilinear and circular ornament. Some compositions suggest careful observation of lunar rhythms, a theme that runs through much of the art at Knowth.