Midden

The National Monuments Service's description

Described in 2001 as 'Harte referred to a shell midden which he discovered on the Inch Island end of the Inch Road embankment. With reference to the embankment he noted 'No 2 is at te opposite end on Inch Island'. While he referred also to a good section being evident he noted 'No 2 is nearly all removed for filling or manure'. Harte's observations that the sites 1, 2 and 3 were 12-14 feet from high water suggests that the three cottages built at the immediate end of the embankment may have removed any final remnant of the midden. The corner of the field immediately behind these cottages was examined and only occasional fragments of shell were noted in the topsoil. A small selection of flint artefacts had been recovered from the corner of this field' (Woodman & Milner 2001, 7-8; Milner & Woodman 2007, 104-5, No. 2).

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload: 17 August 2010

References

Milner, N. and Woodman, P. 2007 Deconstructing the myths of Irish shell middens. In N. Milner, O.E. Craig and G. Bailey (eds) Shell middens in Atlantic Europe. Oxford. Oxbow.