Procession and Symbolism at Tara

Analysis of Tech Midchúarta (The ‘Banqueting Hall’) in the Context of the Sacral Campus

Datos Bibliográficos

ID8076014
AutoresConor Newman (autor de correspondencia)
Año2007
Volumen26
Número4
Páginas415-438
Fecha de publicación2007-10-11
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaOxford Journal of Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0262-5253 • E-ISSN: 1468-0092
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1468-0092.2007.00291.x
OpenAlexW2063047636
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas20
Referencias citadas3

New analysis explores Tech Midchúarta (the ‘Banqueting Hall’) from the point of view of a sacral, processional approach to the summit of the Hill of Tara, the pre‐eminent cult and inauguration site of prehistoric and early medieval Ireland. It is suggested that aspects of its architectural form symbolize the liminal boundary between the human world and the Otherworld of Tara, and that in so far as Tech Midchúarta is also designed to control and manipulate how the ceremonial complex is disclosed to the observer, it assembles the existing monuments into one, integrated ceremonial campus. It is argued that Tech Midchúarta is one of the later monuments on the Hill of Tara and that it may date from the early medieval period. Using the evidence of documentary sources and extant monuments, a possible processional route from Tech Midchúarta to Ráith na Ríg is described. Immráidem fós Long na Láech frisanabar Barc Ban mbáeth. Tech na Fían, nirbo long lec, co cethri doirsib deac. Let us consider too the Hall of the Heroes which is called the Palace of Vain Women; the House of Warriors, it was no mean hall, with fourteen doors. ( Gwynn 1903–35 , Metrical Dindshenchas III, 18

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Art history · Context (archaeology · Cult · Extant taxon · Mythology · Irish and British Studies · Religious Tourism and Spaces · Classics · History