Poulnabrone dolmen 4.51

Poulnabrone dolmen is a portal tomb - one of approximately 174 in Ireland - located in the Burren, County Clare, Ireland. It dates back to the Neolithic period, probably between 4200 BC and 2900 BC. It is situated 8 km south of Ballyvaughan, 9.6 km north-west of Kilnaboy.LocationThe tomb is located in a rocky field in the townland of Poulnabrone, parish of Kilcorney, close to the R480 road, south of Ballyvaughan in County Clare.NamePoulnabrone is sometimes wrongly translated as "Hole of Sorrows" . However, "brone" is derived from the Irish bró, meaning quern.FeaturesThe dolmen consists of a twelve-foot, thin, slab-like, tabular capstone supported by two sets of slender upright parallel portal stones, which support the capstone 1.8 m from the ground, creating a chamber in a 9 m low cairn. The cairn helped stabilize the tomb chamber, and would have been no higher during the Neolithic. The entrance faces north and is crossed by a low sill stone.ExcavationsA crack was discovered in the eastern portal stone in 1985. Following the resulting collapse, the dolmen was dismantled, and the cracked stone was replaced. Excavations during that time (1986, 1988) found that 33 people, both adults and children, were buried under the monument. Personal items buried with the dead included a polished stone axe, a bone pendant, quartz crystals, weapons and pottery.