Murder Strikes Again: Ancient Tombs

Fact File

There are three types of ancient tombs to be found in the kingdom of Corcomroe in the fifth century. These were:

Portal tombs where a giant capstone was placed across either two or four upright stones.

Wedge tombs: These are made from stones and are named ‘wedge’ as the front of the grave is wider and higher than the back as in this drawing:

Court Tombs: These had a court or passageway in the front and a varying number of small chambers holding bones and other grave-goods opening off it.

Read &Write:

(Chapter Eleven)

1. Page 123 Two places are mentioned within the burial mound. What are they?

2. Page 124 Describe what Ita sees when she goes into the small chamber at the back of the burial mound.

3. Page 124 What were the shelves made from?

4 Page 124 What was in the ancient urns?

5 Page 124 Where did Bran find the jewels?

Draw…!

Try to find a picture of the ancient portal grave of Poulnabrone and copy the picture.

Find a picture of some precious jewels from the past and copy the picture.

EXPLORE…!

Find the meaning of the word 'urn' in the dictionary. See if you can make an urn from clay.

If you live near Clare try to see the magnificent portal tomb, or dolmen, of Poulnabrone.

Imagine…!

Imagine that Bran is in the burial chamber and the ghosts of the ancient people buried in that chamber rise up. Write down what happens.

Imagine that you are exploring and you find an underground passage leading into an ancient burial mound. Write down the story of what happens.