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

Description of Kerbstone 93

The stone has a marked horizontal arris, and the carvings on the upper part of the stone are noticeably more weathered than those lover down. The principal motif is an eighteen-bend serpentiform running across the stone, and beneath this is a horizontal line that turns up at each end. Above the serpentiform is a row of six single arcs, and further right are two double arcs and one single; all the arcs open to the side.

Above these, from the left, is a double concentric circle, then three concentric circles, and between this motif and the next to the right there may have been a circular motif; there are also the remains of some short, curved lines, which may have been part of an earlier motif. The next motif to the right is an anti-clockwise spiral, which turns back on itself, with some short lines and curves just to the right. The motifs on the upper slope of the stone are picked with a small to medium-sized point, and on the lower part with a medium-to-large point, and there are also some elongated marks made with a chisel.

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Knowth is a Stone Age Passage Tomb in the Boyne Valley in Ireland's Ancient East and together with Newgrange and Dowth are the principal sites of Brú na Bóinne UNESCO World Heritage Site. Knowth is the largest passage tomb of the Brú na Bóinne complex. The main mound is about 12 metres (40 ft) high and 67 metres (220 ft) in diameter covering about 1 hectare (2.5 acres). It contains two passages placed along an east-west line and was originally encircled by 127 kerbstones of which 124 are still in place.

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