Mine - copper

The National Monuments Service's description

On the upper E slopes of Mount Gabriel, c. 370m ESE of the summit, some 13m N of another mine (CO139-026004-). It is one of 31 copper mines belonging to Mount Gabriel Prehistoric mining complex (CO139-026001-). This mine is a large inclined working driven 270° into a low E-facing outcrop, accessible for a length of c. 5m, though the size of the spoil dump associated with the mine suggests it was a lot larger. On inspection in 1984, the working was flooded with a substantial rubble floor deposit, and was not excavated. The entrance (Wth 0.9m; H 0.5m) had a low rounded profile, and inside the mine the hanging wall had a smooth concave appearance, indicative of fire-setting. Outside the entrance, a test-pit excavation of the semicircular spoil dump (14m N-S; 13m E-W) revealed a thickness of 1.6m, and 272 stone mauls fragments were recovered. A sample of oak charcoal was dated by radiocarbon analysis (GrN-13668) to 3430 ± 30 BP, suggesting the mine was closely contemporary with two other excavated mines (CO139-049---- and CO139-050----). (O'Brien 1987 and 1994, 330-4: mine 18)

This is a National Monument in State Care.

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 1: West Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1992) and William O’Brien’s monograph ‘Mount Gabriel, Bronze Age mining in Ireland’ (Galway: Galway University Press, 1994).

Photograph attached
CO139-026003-_01: Mine site (in O'Brien 1994, 332).

Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009

References

O'Brien, W. 1987 Primitive copper mining in south-west Ireland, 3 vols. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis. University College, Cork.

O'Brien, W. 1994 Mount Gabriel: Bronze Age mining in Ireland. Galway University Press.