The Arts: Photographs of Ancient Sites
Carn Bane West
Many
consider the tombs of Carn Bane West to be more spectacular than those on the neighbouring hill. There are certainly more of them, and the majority are in better condition.
Like Carn Bane East their is only really one tomb which is completely intact, and like the Callaighe, it was reconstructed by archeologists in the last few decades. One large tomb is completely destroyed. This was the work of the Order of British Israelites who believed the Ark of the Covenant was buried beneath it. They dynamited it resulting in the loss of one of the most intact cairns in Northern Europe.
Most cairns have lost their roofs showing clearly the standard cruciform pattern found throughout Ireland
So far thirteen cairns have been found on Carn Bane West making it one of the largest collections of such burial mounds in the British Isles. As well as the cairns there is also one ring fort, less than a thousand yards from the site on an over looking promitory.
Like the re-constructed Cairn on Carn Bane East, the Cairns on West show the same designs of Spirals and lozenges. These are easiest to see on the reconstructed cairn, where the stones have had the least weathering. Many believe these designs were astronomical, giving the agricultural builders information on when to plant and sow. Many seem to correlate with both solar and lunar calendars.
Farrar/Bone 1999