Chapter 2 ancient Ireland Flashcards
Describe the houses of the early Irish settlers
The lived in circular houses that were made with saplings and covered with animal skin or rushes. A hearth is the middle and some heaps of kitchen waste were discovered
What are post-holes
Holes in the ground where upright poles for a house once stood
Why did the first Irish settlers to arrive in Ireland settle along the coast or in the banks of river
Ireland was covered in dense forest
How did they arrive in Ireland
With dugout canoes or in small tubelike boats
What were tools made out of in the Stone Age
Small stones and pieces of Flint know as microlits
When did the Neolithic farmers come to Ireland and where did they come from
4000BC and they came from Britain and mainland Europe
How did the farmers prepare the land for sowing crops
The cut down trees with stone axes, removed then and then used mattocks or wooden ploughs to turn the soil
What kind of houses did the farmers live in
Their houses were mad out of stone or wood or a mixture of both. The houses were usually rectangular in shape and larger than the earliest settlers
Did the farmers believe in a life after death and how did they show it
Yes they did. They builded large stones known as Megaliths
Describe the word dolmen
They dolmen consists of 3 standing stones and a capstone on top. They body or cremated remains were then placed under the dolmen
Describe court Crain
It get there name from a small entrance area,or court, which lies at the entrance of the burial chamber. The chamber is built out of stones covered with earth
Describe passage grave
It’s get their name from a long passageway, which goes to the burial chamber. The roof has no central support
What is corbelled roof
It is when they built the roof by placing each layer of stone slab slightly sticking out from the ones below
What was the function of the box above the passage grave
To let light in on the 21st December ( winter solstice)That’s the way they knew that crop-planting season was approaching
