David
McGuinness
Contributions to journals
This paper examines three aspects of Lhuyd's work on Irish megalithic tombs: (i) the context of his famous account of Newgrange is assessed and is shown to have a more complex background than hitherto assumed; (ii) using several complementary pieces of evidence, Lhuyd's classification of British megalithic tombs is outlined and discussed, and it is shown to have been used by him to describe megaliths encountered on his Irish tour; (iii) an examination of Lhuyd's Additions to Gibson's edition of Camden's Britannia of 1695 is used to illustrate his ideas on the function, origin and chronology of megalithic tombs. Antiquarian studies of Irish megalithic tombs after Lhuyd are discussed in the context of his contribution.
This paper examines three aspects of Lhuyd's work on Irish megalithic tombs: (i) the context of his famous account of Newgrange is assessed and is shown to have a more complex background than hitherto assumed; (ii) using several complementary pieces of evidence, Lhuyd's classification of British megalithic tombs is outlined and discussed, and it is shown to have been used by him to describe megaliths encountered on his Irish tour; (iii) an examination of Lhuyd's Additions to Gibson's edition of Camden's Britannia of 1695 is used to illustrate his ideas on the function, origin and chronology of megalithic tombs. Antiquarian studies of Irish megalithic tombs after Lhuyd are discussed in the context of his contribution.
