Covering the dead: the cists behind the orthostats at the Mound of the Hostages

Scarre, Chris

Abstract

The term ‘passage tomb’ implies that these were structures intended for the deposition of human remains, and it is commonly assumed that they were covered by a mound or cairn. The Mound of the Hostages at Tara, however, is one of several sites that encourage us to challenge the articulation between these separate elements. The cists behind the orthostats of the chamber indicate that the tomb was a locus for funerary deposition before the mound and the cairn were added, and there is evidence that funerary deposition had begun before the chamber itself was constructed. It is suggested from the evidence of Tara and other sites that megalithic chambers may sometimes have been built to monumentalise pre-existing loci of funerary ceremonial. Chambers may have functioned as free-standing repositories for human remains for decades or even centuries before they were covered by mounds or cairns. The notion of the Neolithic monument as a project with a defined objective may indeed be anachronistic. Monuments such as Mound of the Hostages should be considered the product not of a pre-ordained plan, but of cumulative processes sometimes extending over considerable periods.

Citation

Scarre, C. (2013). Covering the dead: the cists behind the orthostats at the Mound of the Hostages. In M. O'Sullivan, C. Scarre, & M. Doyle (Eds.), Tara – from the past to the future : towards a new research agenda (159-169). Wordwell

• Publication Date: Aug 1, 2013
• Deposit Date: Nov 5, 2013
• Pages: 159-169
• Book Title: Tara – from the past to the future : towards a new research agenda.