Experts from Trinity College Dublin have been studying the tomb contents of various Neolithic sites around Ireland. At Newgrange in County Meath, possibly the most famous of the Neolithic mounds in the country because of its alignment with the Winter Solstice sun which bathes the most ornate part in golden sunlight, some exciting new information has come up. It is a 5,000-years'-old structure. The discovery is that the incumbent of the most ostentatious chamber is a 'highly inbred' individual, either brother-sister or parent-child.
That the inhabitant of the ancient grave is of the highest social status, the researchers suggest that the inbreeding must have been seen as socially acceptable, perhaps to keep the elite bloodline pure. Similar findings have be made of the Pharoahs of Egypt, and perhaps even the Hapsburg dynasty because of the various facial and skeletal deformities. The remains of the earliest known individual with Downs Syndrome has also been found nearby.
It appears to tie in with popular Irish mythology:
So, are these fabled Irish kingdoms historical fact or do they remain a myth?
That the inhabitant of the ancient grave is of the highest social status, the researchers suggest that the inbreeding must have been seen as socially acceptable, perhaps to keep the elite bloodline pure. Similar findings have be made of the Pharoahs of Egypt, and perhaps even the Hapsburg dynasty because of the various facial and skeletal deformities. The remains of the earliest known individual with Downs Syndrome has also been found nearby.
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Older than both the pyramids and Stonehenge, the Newgrange tomb is an imposing, 200,000 tonne Neolithic monument built more than 5,000 years ago. The large circular mound — which harbours an inner stone passageway and chambers — is renown for its annual 'solar alignment', in which the sunrise on the winter solstice illuminates its sacred inner chamber in a golden blast of light. Little had been known, however, about the prehistoric society that assembled this monument and other — prompting archaeologists and geneticists to analyse the genomes of 44 neolithic individuals from sites across Ireland. |
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In addition, the researchers found that the results of their genetic analysis resonated with both the Newgrange solar phenomenon and a piece of local mythology. The tale — which was first written down in the 11th Century AD, some 4,000 years after Newgrange was erected — tells of King Bresal Bródíbad who commissioned 'the men of Ireland from every quarter' to build a tower to take him to heaven. The king's sister offered to halt the course of the sun in the sky, as to allow the construction to be completed within 'a long day' — but her magic was broken when Bresal slept with her, and the heaven-reaching tower left unfinished. In fact, the name in Middle Irish for the nearby Dowth passage tomb — 'Fertae Chuile', which translates as 'Tumulus [or hill] of Sin' — is derived from the folklore. 'Given the world-famous solstice alignments of Brú na Bóinne [the Irish name for Newgrange], the magical solar manipulations in this myth already had scholars questioning how long an oral tradition could survive,' said Ros Ó Maoldúin. 'To now discover a potential prehistoric precedent for the incestuous aspect is extraordinary,' the Trinity College archaeologist and paper author added. |
So, are these fabled Irish kingdoms historical fact or do they remain a myth?
via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/2USV4jM
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