Prehistory trip

We went back to Pol na Bron, so I won't bore you with more pictures of that - I actually don't think I took any. But having our Irish Studies prof with us was really cool - he showed us a prehistoric wall/path that was still visible leading away from the dolmen (the raised/more turf covered line). It could have been used as a path of smaller stones to roll the large slabs up for the building of the dolmen. The dolmens were also used as markers of territory, so the path might have been turned into a wall as an extra marker.

It was also apparently frog season!

There was one that I got really close to - I think he might have been too scared out of his mind to move. But he was gorgeous. Oh, and neither of these pictures had my camera zoomed in - I was actually this close!!

At the next place we got off the bus, it was near a sheep field, and they all came to say hi.

This was a cairn - a specific type of burial in which the body was placed in a box, and then a large pile of small stones was created over and around it. This is actually a fairly small one, and has probably been pulled apart a bit by farmers for their walls. Some of them were HUGE, and also used as very visible markers on the tops of hills.

This was another dolmen that was in a farmer's field, only it has fallen apart, and been taken over somewhat by hazel. It was still neat, since we got to actually go up close and stand in it.

I just love the cartoon-ish feel of this hill!!

We had to cross a cow field to get to our next destination...

Which was this fantastic view. It felt so epic being on top of this hill, with the wind blowing and such a gorgeous landscape around.

A closer view of the crazy rock layers in the hill.

Our professor pretending to shut one of the students inside a large wedge tomb :D

Here you can see another prehistoric wall going sort of horizontally across the frame - we all walked along it!

This was a chamber tomb, so a different style from portal dolmens and wedge tombs. There seemed to be two chambers, as well as a front courtyard.

This was the ground that we had to walk across. Some of the little valleys are ok to step on, because it's just lower rock, or lower rock with a bit of turf on top. However, some others are turf that's growing suspended over a deeper hole in the rock. And they look almost exactly the same!!! It was an experience making it across without twisting an ankle.

This is just a really nifty glacial erratic that we saw. It and another one and the chamber tomb line up together....