Alternative Title

Carving Out Realities: The Common Ontological Underpinnings of Rock Art and Passage Mounds in Megalithic Ireland

Abstract

During the Late Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age, people in Ireland built megalithic structures on which they carved intricate arrays of seemingly abstract rock art. Throughout the history of Irish megalithic archaeology, both rock carvings and the architecture of their larger contexts have been interpreted to contain many different meanings, however most often they are analyzed separately rather than as a single whole. Specifically, the scope of this analysis is focused on a single kind of megalithic structure: the passage mound, which consists of a central stone chamber with a long passageway that is then covered in concentric layers of earth, small stones, and other materials. This work aims to unite both rock art and megalithic architecture and to understand them as two parts of the same whole, to help build out a better and more robust understanding of the symbolic meanings contained within the stones. Through the use of hermeneutics and the reliance on worked stone and architecture as built ontologies themselves, this work aims to exercise the practice of “reading” the past by shaving off the modern biases imposed on ancient societies.

Advisor

Navarro-Farr, Olivia

Department

Archaeology

Keywords

Megalithic, Neolithic, Rock Art, Ontology, Passage Mound, Hermeneutics

Publication Date

2026

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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