Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race - Knowledge Rush

CHAPTER II: THE RELIGION OF THE CELTS 55sarcophagus, but not traces of any burial now remains.Symbolic Carvings at New GrangeThe stones are all raw and undressed, and were selected fortheir purpose from the river-bed and elsewhere close by. Ontheir flat surfaces, obtained by splitting slabs from the originalquarries, are found the carvings which form the unique interestof this strange monument. Except for the large stone with spiralcarvings and one other at the entrance to the mound, the intention [71]of these sculptures does not appear to have been decorative,except in a very rude and primitive sense. There is no attemptto cover a given surface with a system of ornament appropriateto its size and shape. The designs are, as it were, scribbled uponthe walls anyhow and anywhere. 45 Among them everywhere thespiral is prominent. The resemblance of some of these carvingsto the supposed finger-markings of the stones at Gavr'inis isvery remarkable. Triple and double spiral are also found, aswell as lozenges and zigzags. A singular carving representingwhat looks like a palm-branch or fern-leaf is found in the westrecess. The drawing of this object is naturalistic, and it is hard tointerpret it, as Mr. Coffey is inclined to do, as merely a piece ofso-called “herring-bone” pattern. 46 A similar palm-leaf design,but with the ribs arranged at right angles to the central axis, isfound in the neighbouring tumulus of Dowth, at Loughcrew, andin combination with a solar emblem, the swastika, on a smallaltar in the Pyrenees, figured by Bertrand.45 It must be observed, however, that the decoration was, certainly, in some,and perhaps in all cases, carried out before the stones were placed in position.This is also the case at Gavr'inis.46 He has modified this view in his latest work, “New Grange,” 1912.