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XXII. 



OX STOXE MARKINGS (SHIP - FIGURE) RECENTLY 

 DISCOVERED AT DOWTH, IN THE COUNTY OF 

 MEATH. Bt GEORGE COFFEY. 



[Eead June 28, 1897.] 



The carvings on the stones in the chambers of the tumulus at Dowth 

 are rude and shallow, and may be better described as markings than 

 earrings. They arc such as could be produced by repeated blows of a 

 rude pick, or a sharp pointed stone. In dry weather, when the 

 surfaces of the stones present an earthy appearance, it is in many cases 

 difficult to detect them, and at all times a side-light is necessary to 

 bring them out. In wet weather the markings show more clearly on 

 the moistened surfaces of the stones. I have found also that the eye 

 soon becomes exhausted in looking for these markings, and that on 

 repeated visits a fresh eye detects markings which had previously 

 escaped notice. 



In the autumn of 1896 I visited Dowth, in company with Mr. C. 

 H. Oldham. In the inner chamber off the circular chamber discovered 

 by Sir Thomas Deane in 1885, !ilr. Oldham called my attention to some 

 markings on the upper surface of the lintel stone above the entrance 

 to this chamber. On examination I was pleased to find that they 

 included a typical example of the ship-figure so frequently found on 

 rock-surfaces in Sweden. 



In my Paper on the Tumuli of New Grange, Dowth, and Knowth, 

 I have illustrated several examples of ship figures from the Swedish 

 rocks {Trans. R. I. A., vol. xxx., p. 34). These I compared with 

 somewhat similar figures on stones in a tumulus at Lockmariaker, in 

 Brittany, and with a figure in the chamber at ^evf Grange. From a 

 comparison of the forms I argued that the most probable explanation 

 of the latter was that it was a rude representation of a ship. My 

 argument has been adopted by M. Adrian de Mortillet to explain 

 similar figures on dolmens in Brittany, but he is of opinion that the 



