Neolithic Tripod Portal Tomb. Legananny Dolmen.

Description

SMR Number: DOW 035:037 Coords: 54.32305, -6.02015 Map: http://binged.it/1AUhwWE This unusually tall 'tripod' dolmen stands on the verge of a field access track. Two vertical granite portal stones to the S end are 2m & 1.8m high while the single support stone to the N is 1.2m high. Both the portal stones and the 3m x 0.6m thick sloped capstone may be erratic in origin given their size. A single slab lying below the capstone may be a structural feature, but may equally be one of a number of boulders forming the base level of a cairn which can be still be traced under & around the dolmen. This cairn would have covered this chamber and has been 'robbed out' over time to become reused in local field boundaries & vernacular architecture. Portal tombs functioned as ceremonial funerary sites in the Neolithic Period (c5000BP) & Legananny is an excellent example of this type of feature. (NIEA Sites and Monuments Database): http://apps.ehsni.gov.uk/ambit/Details.aspx?MonID=7940 Model © Conor Graham 2015