Research being conducted by IT Sligo Archaeology lecturer Dr Marion Dowd at a cave excavation in Co Clare, is providing interesting insights into life in the West of Ireland in prehistoric times.
The excavation at Moneen Cave in Ballyvaughan has revealed that the cave was a significant religious site during the Bronze Age for a period of 1,000 years between 2,000 BC and 1,000 BC.
Funded by the National Monument Service, the research began in 2011 and Dr Dowd has just completed a report which includes extensive radiocarbon dating and ancient DNA analysis.
Below is an extract from an article by Andrew Hamilton in The Clare People about the research:
The oldest artefact found on site was a red deer antler mace-head, which has opened the possibility of shared religious belief existing in Clare and Limerick some 4,000 years ago. “We found evidence of ritual food offerings such as oysters and joints of meat. We also found about 350 sherds of pottery dating to 1,000 BC,” said Dr Dowd. “The antler mace-head dates to around 2,000 BC. It was probably a ceremonial object and is the most important artefact from the site. We initially thought it was the only antler mace-head in Ireland but just recently we have come across five other examples of this sort of artefact – two from north county Limerick, one from Lough Inchiquin [in Corofin, County Clare] as well as one from Antrim and one from Meath.
“Most of the mace-heads or hammer-heads seem to come from natural places that were sacred in the past – caves, rivers and lakes. We know, for example, that Lough Inchiquin was a significant site in Neolithic and Bronze Age times because significant numbers of stone axes were ritually deposited in it, as well as one of these antler mace-heads,” she said.
Though only six of these objects are known in Ireland, there is a marked concentration in Clare and north Limerick; “What we are seeing is that there may have been a significance regarding this type of artefact in the religious practices of people in this region; that within their belief system [the Bronze Age people of Clare and north Limerick], this sort of antler mace-head was a recognised ceremonial and religious object.”
Meanwhile, human remains discovered in the cave were identified as those of a teenage boy who lived in the late medieval period, dying in the sixteenth or seventeenth century. “A find like this is totally unprecedented in a cave context” continued Dr Dowd. “We know that this was a 14 to 16 year old with probable stunted growth. We also know from the bones that the person had a very poor diet and would have suffered from a number of infections. “Ancient DNA analysis showed that the skeletal remains were those of a boy. What we don’t know, and what we will probably never know for certain, is what caused this child’s death.
“Could he have been a murder victim? I don’t think so, because there is no sign of trauma of the bones. The second possibility is that this was some sort of clandestine burial – someone who didn’t warrant burial in consecrated grounds. I don’t think this is the case either because the body would still have been buried in the Christian east-to-west position.
“The other possibility is that the boy came into the cave and died there. He may have been ill or injured. This is my personal opinion of what happened even though we will never know for sure,” she concluded.
IT Sligo is the only third level institution in Ireland to offer a science-based, honours degree course in Applied Archaeology. There are a limited number of places available on the Level 7 and Level 8 BSc in Applied Archaeology, commencing this September. For more information click here or telephone +353 (0) 71 9318510.