Toran found these ideas fascinating. In 1699, the owner of the land, Charles Campbell had discovered a decorated stone at the entrance of Newgrange and became probably the first person to enter the cairn in a thousand years. Recognizing the importance of the structure, he stopped quarrying its stones and the massive cairn remained unopened until archaeological excavations began in 1962. Initially, the archaeologists believed that the mound was some type of burial site or tomb of the megalithic people. Upon further archaeological excavation, however, a surprising fact became evident. There were very few burials within the mound and, more important, the dates attributed to the burial remains were often hundreds or thousands of years more recent than the construction era of the actual mound.
During the period of some forty generations when the Megalithic people (also called the Grooved Ware People because of the distinctive style of their pottery) constructed these massive mounds, there would have been many deaths from natural causes. Scholars, such as Professor Kelly, one of the main excavators of the mounds, had calculated that as many as 48,000 people would have died during this period of forty generations. If this were so, Toran wondered, where were they all buried and why were there so few burial remains within the passage cairns? Did the Grooved Ware People venerate only a small percentage of their dead, some 0.4%, or were the tremendous passage cairns constructed for a purpose other than the burial of the dead?
Walking around the passage mound of Knowth one afternoon, Toran had come upon a farmer tending to his land. “I have seen you wandering here for a few days,” said the old farmer, “what might you be looking for?”
“I am an archaeologist writing an article about Megalithic structures of Ireland and England,” replied Toran, “and I am here studying these mounds as part of my research.”
“Well, I will tell you a bit of folklore about these mounds,” said the farmer, leaning on his rake and taking a moment of rest. “Knowth and Dowth, and also Loughcrew over yonder, were once considered wombs of an Earth Goddess. Very few burial remains have ever been found within any of the large cairns because the places did not have to do with death but instead with birth.”
“Why do you say that?
“Well, just look at the objects your fellow archaeologists have dug out of the mounds. All sorts of things, like oval shaped stones and rock phalluses have been discovered. Some locals believe that the carved bone pendants recovered from the cairns may have been left by young women in hopes of impregnation by the gods.”
Then, with a somewhat skeptical look on his face, the farmer laughed and said, “You know, the sun shines twice a year directly into the deepest part of the Newgrange mound and maybe that is because the ancient builders hoped the sun’s rays could somehow help the human spirit to reincarnate.”
Many orthodox archaeologists, when hearing such statements, might express scorn or ridicule. Yet, Toran wondered, what was the reason for the extraordinary amount engineering sophistication and manual labor that had gone into the construction of the mounds? He considered the known measurements. The Newgrange cairn, for example, covers an acre of land, is 280 feet across and 50 feet high, and is built of approximately 280,000 tons of river -rolled granite stones brought from 75 miles away. Piercing the cairn, a 62-foot passage leads to a domed chamber that is 20 feet high. This chamber has a corbelled roof and three recesses, one straight ahead and one on either side, giving it a cruciform shape. Many of the stones within these chambers were carved with beautiful spirals, geometric figures and wavy lines. Mysteries upon mysteries, he mused.
