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Knowth Kerbstone K67

Kerbstone K67 is one of the 127 kerbstones numbered in Professor George Eogan's record of the Knowth monument. It is located on the south-western side of the great passage tomb mound.

Knowth Kerbstone K67 with concentric circles and spirals on the face, a wild rabbit on the grass in front. Knowth Kerbstone K67.

The Megalithic Art of the Passage Tombs at Knowth, Co. Meath

Book cover: The Megalithic Art of the Passage Tombs at Knowth, County Meath by George Eogan. Excavations at Knowth, Volume 7.

Description of Kerbstone 67

The surface of the stone shows a number of cracks and some flaked surfaces. Stage 1 consists of an irregular arrangement of nested, incised triangles near the top-right corner of the stone. This is overlain by one of the spirals of Stage 2. These are all picked, using a tool with a medium-to-fine, rounded point. Chisels were also used, some having a narrow cutting edge and others with a broader edge.

From left to right, the picked motifs comprise a clockwise spiral, an anti-clock-wise spiral of four turns, and a set of three, concentric circles touching this on the right. Below there is an anti-clockwise spiral of three-and-a-half turns, then the biggest, centrally placed clockwise spiral of four turns, with another smaller one of four turns to the right and another of three turns further right. Lower down to the right is a small U, opening upwards, and near the top of the stone is a double U-motif opening downwards. Near the left side of the stone there are some dispersed pickmarks.

Excavations at Knowth Volume 7: The Megalithic Art of the Passage Tombs at Knowth, Co. Meath

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Knowth Kerbstone K67, Discovery Programme 3D model showing seven pecked spirals and concentric circles in a row. Knowth Kerbstone 67 scan by the Discovery Programme.
Martin Brennan line drawing of Knowth Kerbstone K67 (SW7) with seven spiral carvings of varying sizes. Kerbstone K67 (SW7) by Martin Brennan.

Knowth Stone Age passage tomb

Among the surviving kerbstones at Knowth, K67 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.

Knowth Kerbstone 67 with concentric circles and spiral carvings on a weathered grey stone before a dry stone wall. Knowth Kerbstone K67.

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.

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