George Eogan's Excavations at Knowth

Knowth is located in the Boyne Valley in Co. Meath and, along with the monuments at Dowth and Newgrange, is part of the ancient Brú na Bóinne complex that is one of only three UNESCO World Heritage Sites on the island of Ireland (https://www.worldheritageireland.ie/bru-na-boinne/). The Neolithic passage tombs at Knowth date to approximately 3,200 BC. The site consists of one large tumulus (the Gr

eat Mound, which houses two large passage tombs) and 20 smaller satellite tombs. Overall, Knowth has had a history, though not continuous, of ritual and settlement spanning roughly six-thousand years—from the beginning of the Neolithic to the modern era. It is older than the Egyptian pyramids; older than Stonehenge. A major programme of archaeological excavation commenced on 18 June 1962 at the passage tomb cemetery at Knowth under the direction of George Eogan. This research continued on a seasonal basis for more than 40 years, resulting in the excavation of a considerable area of the monument complex. Knowth is a multi-period and multi-functional archaeological complex. The Royal Irish Academy (https://www.ria.ie/) has the responsibility and the privilege of bringing the invaluable research work undertaken at Knowth into the public domain, through our Excavations at Knowth series of publications. To date, six volumes have been published in the series (https://www.ria.ie/bookshop/category/excavations-knowth-1006/type/publication), which has been produced on behalf of and with the support of the National Monuments Service of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage a (https://www.gov.ie/en/policy/596fa-heritage/). The seventh volume, which will present the megalithic art from Knowth, is currently in preparation. In August 2018, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the rediscovery of the eastern tomb beneath the Great Mound, we ‘launched’ the electronic version of the series as an open-access resource (https://www.ria.ie/news/knowth), via the Digital Repository of Ireland (https://repository.dri.ie/catalog/8910z856b).