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10.000 BC. to 2000 BC.

The Mounds from the NEOLITHIC period are some of the most sophisticated structures to have been built in this country. They are equal to the PYRAMIDS of Egypt and South America, the HENGE monuments of England and to the many and varied structures to be found around the world. They may? have been used as burial places at some later stage in their existence but this does not mean that they were built as " BURIAL MOUNDS " only. Their CONSTRUCTION is , based on both MATHEMATICS and ASTRONOMY, and as you will see, this FACT can be seen to this day in the" DECORATION "? to be found both in, and around them.

Dolmen/Druids Altar :-The Dolmen is a STRUCTURE built during the Neolithic Period in Ireland from a series of STANDING STONES / ORTHOSTATS, which was then CAPPED with another LARGE STONE. They can be found mainly on the West coast of Ireland, (Sligo, Clare, Kerry, etc.), but are NOT UNIQUE to Ireland. Structures such as these, ( in different forms ), were built in many " EUROPEAN", countries, Japan and Africa. This suggests that even in NEOLITHIC times, knowledge and working practises were spread through TRAVEL. Dolmens were originally covered by a MOUND of earth, so that what we see today is the inner CONSTRUCTION, and would not have been obvious, or visible in earlier times. They were in effect MINI PASSAGE GRAVES, ( but without the PASSAGE ), i.e. consisted of a Burial place. They were NOT BUILT BY THE DRUIDS,( who came much later on the scene ), but by a people, who as you will see, were not alone extremely skilled builders, but also Mathematicians and Astronomers.

Look at the EXCAVATION of a very simple MOUND / CAIRN / TUMULUS, and you will see that it is basically a CIRCULAR structure, constructed of a ring of KERB STONES, ( large stones lying FLAT), with a PASSAGE formed from two lines of ORTHOSTATS, ( standing stones placed in two rows leading to the centre of the MOUND ). The inner CHAMBER / COURT was created by Two larger ORTHOSTATS and these ORTHOSTATS would have been "roofed" by stones lying across, and on top of the ORTHOSTATS, ( like lintels over a door ).This structure was then covered by Earth and stone to create what we call today Passage Graves, Mounds, CAIRNS, or Tumuli. The ENTRANCE stone at the mouth of the PASSAGE was " DECORATED " and helped to conceal the entrance from?. Of course the most famous MOUNDS are --