The immanency of the intangible image: thoughts with neolithic expression at Loughcrew

The power of images has played a fundamental role in the projects of both modernity and archaeology. Since the seventeenth century the past has been understood by the politics of display and visual documentation. Archaeological practice has progressed with modern visual technologies and scientific revolutions, creating standardised media. This has, however, created a situation whereby representational understandings of all things in the past dominate – to end with a representational interpretation is understandable, to begin with one is problematic. Such practices are most prevalent in accounts of motifs and passage tombs in Ireland. This paper moves beyond mere representation and the idea that things are passive, and instead offers a narrative of the Loughcrew complex, that is more collaborative and dynamic