Circa 3000 B.C. - Farming colonists of the Neolithic period reached Ireland! One of their surviving monuments is a megalithic tomb in Newgrange.
The Neolithic period is also known as the New Stone Era. The period is known for the last stage of human development before the Bronze Age (when humans started getting more advanced with building stuff with materials other than rocks). The Neolithic period is known for the first time people began to farm instead of just hunting and gathering.
Megalithic refers to building something out of large stones. Something big for all of the people in the area to see and know.
The tomb of Newgrange is a large stone tomb mound that is surrounded by smaller (but still large) border rocks that are decorated with the art of that time period. Experts estimate that building this tomb would have taken 300 people around 20 years. Now that is dedication! The most fascinating fact about this tomb is that the builders lined up a passage with the sun so that the entire passage would be lit up by the sun on the date and time of the winter solstice sunrise. The event lasts for about 17 minutes. The event is so admired and appreciated by the people of Ireland that the visitor center of the tomb lets anyone who might want to see this wonder of the solstice enter their names into a lottery. In 2011, 31,531 people entered this lottery, but only 50 are randomly chosen (and each person drawn gets to bring 1 friend) to be present for the event.
Newgrange tomb
The decorated stones (I think I might have seen some jewelry with this pattern - yay to Irish artists respecting their ancestors!!)
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