Prehistoric site - lithic scatter

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on the S shoreline of Derrya at the NW end of Lough Derravaragh where the Inny River enters the lake. The Mesolithic shoreline of the lake was exposed after the Inny River was drained in the 1960s resulting in the lowering of the water level on Lough Derravaragh. Described as Site 3 by Professor Frank Mitchell (Mitchell 1972, 170). Site 3 was described by Mitchell as 'immediately to the east of the entry point of the river, in the townland of Derrya, a bay had been cut into the south end of a raised bog. As at Site 1 (WM006-065----) there was an irregular surface of eroded fen-peat, and at one point there was a small scatter of chert debitage and stone' (Mitchell 1972, 170; Little 2014, 2). Today there are no surface remains visible of this lithic scatter.

Compiled by: Frank Coyne & Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload: 2 February 2017

References

Mitchell, G.F. 1972 Some ultimate Larnian sites at Lake Derravaragh, Co. Westmeath. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 102, 160-73.

Little, A 2014 Clonava Island revisited: a story of cooking, plants and re-occupation during the Irish Late Mesolithic. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 114, 1-21.