Altar Wedge Tomb

Altar Wedge Tomb is located 6.7 km (4.2 mi) WSW of Schull, on a cliffedge near Toormore Bay.[2]

Wedge tombs of this kind were built in Ireland in the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age, c. 2500–2000 BC.[3]

Cremated burials took place in 2000 BC and pit burials c. 1200 BC. Around AD 200 a pit was dug and filled in with fish, shellfish and cetacean bones, presumably as a ritual practice.[4]

Despite the name, there is no evidence that the "altar" was ever used for sacrifice. It was used as a Mass rock in the 18th century AD.[5] A holy well stood across the road.

It was excavated in summer 1989 by Dr. William O'Brien and Madeline Duggan. Material found included cremated human adult bones, a tooth, worked flint, charcoal, periwinkles, fish bones and limpets.[6]

Altar wedge tomb under the Milky Way

The entrance was aligned ENE–WSW, possibly with Mizen Peak (Carn Uí Néit) and maybe to catch the setting sun at Samhain (November 1).[7]

The tomb consists of a trapezoidal orthostatic gallery 3.42 m (11.2 ft) long, 1.9 m (6 ft 3 in) wide at the west end 1.25 m (4 ft 1 in) at the east.

A roof-stone 2.7 m (8 ft 10 in) long, is still above the east end, and a second rests against the westerly stones at either side of the gallery. There is no cairn material or evidence of kerbstones; they may have been removed for road construction in the 19th century AD.[6][8]