Habitation site

The National Monuments Service's description

On intertidal zone of River Shannon estuary, c. 75m to N of flood relief embankment. Togher (LI004-032012-) is c. 32m to ESE. Not depicted on OS historic mapping. Listed as ‘Carrigadirty Rock 5' by O’ Sullivan (2001, 307) who described the site as following; 'Possible Neolithic wetland occupation site represented by a scatter of both stratified and unstratified finds on the lower foreshore. The finds are emerging from organicrich, reedy, grey estuarine clays over an area 30m (E—W) by 2m (N-S). They include worked and charred roundwood, charcoal, fragments of basketry, a portion of human skull and clavicle, cattle and swan bone, a stone axe, chert flakes, a possible hammerstone and a few fragments of charred bone and hazelnuts. The human skull has been radiocarbon-dated to 4710 ± 60 BP (3634-3370 cal. BC; Beta-102086). The basket has provided two similar radiocarbon dates of 4820 ± 50 BP (3702—3386 cal. BC; GrA-6520) and 4820 ± 50 BP (3702-3386 cal. BC; Beta-102087). September 1998.'.

See attached Google Earth orthoimage

Compiled by: Alison McQueen and Vera Rahilly

Date of upload: 19 June 2020

References

O'Sullivan, A. 2001 Foragers, farmers and fishers in a coastal landscape. Discovery Programme Monograph No. 5