present. Entrance stones (or passage stones, crude double rows of standing stones) extend from the central feature, showing the intended orientation of the dolmens. They are not oriented to points of the compass but generally face towards the area of the central cairn. In four examples, monuments are situated in pairs. Each monument was built on a small level platform of earth and stone. This is one of the secrets of the dolmens' longevity; a well-executed stone packing surrounded the base of the upright stones, locking them in place. One of the satellite tombs, Tomb 27, has a cruciform passage tomb plan, a feature seen in the chambers of later passage tombs like Newgrange or Carrowkeel. The roof – now gone – may have been of stone slabs or corbelled. Listoghil or Tomb 51 Listoghil, which was erected c. 3500 BC, is 34 metres in diameter and has a distinctive box-like chamber. The leading edge of the covering stone over the entrance bears marks which may represent the only megalithic art so far found at Carrowmore. Three large boulders were found beside the central chamber and under the cairn; these could be the remains of a destroyed passage or of a megalithic construction predating the cairn. As many of the satellite tombs face the central area, the location of Tomb 51 appears to have been the focal point around which the cemetery developed. This monument was found to contain unburned bones as well as cremations. Research history Gabriel Beranger visited the site in 1779 and illustrated some of the monuments. These drawings are a valuable record of the state of Carrowmore at the time, showing some monuments now destroyed or damaged. Many artistic impressions of the monuments through the ages are preserved. Early photographers, such as W.A. Green and R.J. Welch of the Belfast Photographer's club made records just after the turn of the twentieth century. Early unrecorded antiquarian digs disturbed the Carrowmore tombs, such as conducted by local landlord Rodger Walker in the 19th century. Walker kept poor records of his activities, and his excavations were essentially treasure hunts to augment his antiquities collection. Some of the material recovered is now at Alnwick castle in Northumberland, England The sites were surveyed and numbered by George Petrie in 1837, while William Gregory Wood-Martin made the first recorded excavations in the 1880s. Recent excavations Excavations led by the Swedish archaeologist Göran