149
intervisibility. The chronology of those particular monuments is poorly understood, being related to their structural diversity and the lack of any agreed typology. Furthermore, while three-quarters of the Welsh tombs investigated are located
within view of the sea, virtually all have a restricted view of the horizon in one
direction related to their locations being on the sides of hills or mountains as distinct from hilltop summits (Cummings & Whittle, 2004: 41–55). Those findings
suggest a binary relationship between burial location and view—of a restricted
horizon on land and of the distant horizon at sea. Typological certainty does attach
to Bryn Celli Ddu, one of only two developed passage tombs in that region. The
differentiated chamber and passage are astronomically aligned on sunrise at summer solstice (Burrow, 2010). Excavation of the tomb revealed evidence of precairn activity and fragments of cremated and unburnt adult human bone. Burrow
indicates the tomb was built between 3074 and 2956 cal BC, was ‘deliberately
imbued with “secret knowledge” which would have required a level of initiation
before it could be understood’, and to being ‘textured with meaning’ from when
construction commenced.
Thinking more broadly on cemetery and settlement locations having linkage to
perceptions of the horizon and sky, Hannon (1983: 264) notes the strong cultural
tendency to place cemeteries on hilltops so as to be generally remote from farmland,
to have good drainage and, critically, be elevationally closer to the perceived abode
of deities and the spirits of the dead. In an analysis of settlement processes throughout prehistoric Europe, Hamond (1981) concludes there were at least three interacting factors to be considered: the locational strategy pursued, the influence of the
local environment, and past experience. It is suggested here that deciding where to
dwell versus where to place the remains of the dead are a dualism guided by pragmatic and spiritual principles, and an architectural design determinant linked to the
settlement process. More deeply, tradition and culture dictate the form and location
of a tomb to reflect the spiritual and cosmological principles of the community.
Beyond the immediacy of the morphology of the burial structure and tomb location,
view and any associated visual impact on the surrounding landscape may be more
potent than the symbolic power and function of the monument itself. Relatedly,
Cooney (2000: 147–148) advocates the term ‘complex’ should replace ‘cemetery’
to describe any cluster of distinctively located tombs. In the case of passage tombs,
this is because of their frequent siting on elevated ground, prominence in the landscape and having entrances which often face larger centrally-placed tombs.
Prendergast (2016) provides backing for these ideas having additionally discovered,
at an island scale, that where a tomb entrance faces another tomb or related cairn,
the targeted ‘focal’ tomb is always at a higher elevation. This suggests an embedded
hierarchy in tomb location linked with symbolism in height difference. The eminent
folklorist Dáithí Ó hÓgáin (1999: 20) combines the evidence from archaeology and
folklore to argue that the tendency to situate passage tombs on eminences and hilltops ‘in itself reflects a desire to stress the social, and probably also the spiritual,
importance attributed to them’. These ideas reinforce Cooney’s thesis that the term
‘complex’, as opposed to ‘cemetery’, highlights the greater range of ceremonial
purposes attaching to these groups of monuments in particular. Figure 2c illustrates
The North Sky and the Otherworld: Journeys of the Dead in the Neolithic Considered
intervisibility. The chronology of those particular monuments is poorly understood, being related to their structural diversity and the lack of any agreed typology. Furthermore, while three-quarters of the Welsh tombs investigated are located
within view of the sea, virtually all have a restricted view of the horizon in one
direction related to their locations being on the sides of hills or mountains as distinct from hilltop summits (Cummings & Whittle, 2004: 41–55). Those findings
suggest a binary relationship between burial location and view—of a restricted
horizon on land and of the distant horizon at sea. Typological certainty does attach
to Bryn Celli Ddu, one of only two developed passage tombs in that region. The
differentiated chamber and passage are astronomically aligned on sunrise at summer solstice (Burrow, 2010). Excavation of the tomb revealed evidence of precairn activity and fragments of cremated and unburnt adult human bone. Burrow
indicates the tomb was built between 3074 and 2956 cal BC, was ‘deliberately
imbued with “secret knowledge” which would have required a level of initiation
before it could be understood’, and to being ‘textured with meaning’ from when
construction commenced.
Thinking more broadly on cemetery and settlement locations having linkage to
perceptions of the horizon and sky, Hannon (1983: 264) notes the strong cultural
tendency to place cemeteries on hilltops so as to be generally remote from farmland,
to have good drainage and, critically, be elevationally closer to the perceived abode
of deities and the spirits of the dead. In an analysis of settlement processes throughout prehistoric Europe, Hamond (1981) concludes there were at least three interacting factors to be considered: the locational strategy pursued, the influence of the
local environment, and past experience. It is suggested here that deciding where to
dwell versus where to place the remains of the dead are a dualism guided by pragmatic and spiritual principles, and an architectural design determinant linked to the
settlement process. More deeply, tradition and culture dictate the form and location
of a tomb to reflect the spiritual and cosmological principles of the community.
Beyond the immediacy of the morphology of the burial structure and tomb location,
view and any associated visual impact on the surrounding landscape may be more
potent than the symbolic power and function of the monument itself. Relatedly,
Cooney (2000: 147–148) advocates the term ‘complex’ should replace ‘cemetery’
to describe any cluster of distinctively located tombs. In the case of passage tombs,
this is because of their frequent siting on elevated ground, prominence in the landscape and having entrances which often face larger centrally-placed tombs.
Prendergast (2016) provides backing for these ideas having additionally discovered,
at an island scale, that where a tomb entrance faces another tomb or related cairn,
the targeted ‘focal’ tomb is always at a higher elevation. This suggests an embedded
hierarchy in tomb location linked with symbolism in height difference. The eminent
folklorist Dáithí Ó hÓgáin (1999: 20) combines the evidence from archaeology and
folklore to argue that the tendency to situate passage tombs on eminences and hilltops ‘in itself reflects a desire to stress the social, and probably also the spiritual,
importance attributed to them’. These ideas reinforce Cooney’s thesis that the term
‘complex’, as opposed to ‘cemetery’, highlights the greater range of ceremonial
purposes attaching to these groups of monuments in particular. Figure 2c illustrates
The North Sky and the Otherworld: Journeys of the Dead in the Neolithic Considered