'An incredible result': Evidence of a second chamber found at Newgrange
Evidence Chamber Second Discovered A Co At Newgrange, Been Survey Has Of Meath Recent A During
Research done during the filming of a just-aired documentary has found evidence of a second chamber at Newgrange.
Rún na Bóinne [Secret of the Boyne], which aired on TG4 on Wednesday night, followed a geophysics team from Ireland and Slovakia as they carried out a micro-gravity survey and geo-radar scan of Newgrange, a Neolithic passage tomb dated at over 5,200 years old.
Newgrange was first excavated in the 1960s when the Winter Solstice alignment was rediscovered and the cairn’s decorated kerbstones were revealed.
The site in Co Meath was never fully excavated and the vast majority of this ancient structure remained untouched. Rumours persisted of a second, as yet undiscovered chamber.
The results of the recent survey indicate two anomalies deep inside the cairn, positioned side by side and bearing the hallmarks of a collapsed cavity.
The possible chamber — which could even be two chambers — is at the rear of the mound and is in alignment with the existing chamber and passage.
The survey, carried out in 2022, was run by Neal Boyle, the filmmaker behind this project and director and producer of the Rún na Bóinne documentary.
Boyle commissioned Slovakian geophysicists Prof Roman Pasteka and his team, Dr Pavel Zahorec, Dr Juraj Papco, Ema Nogova and Mayo-based archaeological geophysicist Kevin Barton, to survey Newgrange using non-invasive technology of microgravity and geo-radar.
In Rún na Bóinne, they embark on a tight, nine-day survey of the mound and the documentary revealed the findings of evidence for a second chamber at Newgrange.
"What this project and team has done is put some new pieces on the board in our attempt to understand this monument and the culture who built it,” said Neal Boyle.
“And it’s given future research a target to consider at Newgrange. I’m very grateful to the funders for their commitment to a project and documentary that had absolutely no guarantees. But this is an incredible result and more than we could have hoped to find.”
The findings were revealed ahead of the Winter Solstice sunrise at the site, which will be live-streamed from Newgrange on December 21.