Anton McNulty
FISH bones, polished bone axes and stone spear points dating back to 4,000BC are just some of the ‘treasures’ discovered by a group of archaeologists from UCD who have been excavating a section of bog near the Céide Fields in Belderrig.
A team of 20 students and archaeologists from UCD – funded by the Royal Irish Academy – have been taking part in the three-week excavation of a section of bog near Belderrig, which will end this week. The overall archaeology project undertaken in north Mayo has been running for the last five years, with teams of Irish and International students studying the unique region of Mayo.
On Thursday evening, the team leader, Professor Greame Warren, will told a public talk in the Belderrig Search and Study Centre where he will outline their findings. He told The Mayo News that the site around Belderrig and its finding are very unusual for the north-west of Ireland and that is what it makes it so important. He said the Céide Fields was of international importance for studying Stone Age farming and they were using modern techniques to date the field systems.
“We have been looking in a part of the Céide Fields for evidence of the last hunter-gatherers, who were the first people to arrive in Ireland before farmers. There is a debate if the hunter-gatherers adapted to farming before the arrival of farmers from the continent or Britain. It is a nice question to deal with and the fact that a site of its kind is very unusual in the north-west adds to its importance. We have also been using reasonably new techniques to date the site and look for evidence of global warming changes over that last 10,000 years,” he said.
Professor Warren said that some of the items found in the excavation will be on display on Thursday evening for the public to see and these include polished bone axes, stone spear points, fish bones, charcoals and hazelnuts. He said the discovery of the bones, which included Conger eel and wrasse and the possibility of mackerel, in good condition was a surprise because there was no obvious reason for the bones to stay preserved.
Since the project started in Belderrig five years ago, over 100 students have been coming to north Mayo every year to uncover and study different parts of the region. Each site hole is approximately five metres by ten metres in size and the depth varies depending on the amount of bog. Professor Warren explained that as well as students from UCD, students from the US, Canada and Europe have come to Belderrig over the years to study the field systems.
The public talk by Professor Greame Warren will take place in the Belderrig Research and Study Centre on Thursday at 7pm.
