Prehistoric site - lithic scatter

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on the E shoreline of Clonava Island at the NW end of Lough Derravaragh. 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 2b by Professor Frank Mitchell (Mitchell 1972, 166). Clonava Island is a knoll of calcite mudstone with numerous bands of chert. The 'island' appears to have been an attractive settlement site in prehistoric times. The chert at Lake Derravaragh has an unusual banded structure and disintegrates easily on exposure to the weather. Site 2b was described by Mitchell as 'an outcrop of chert both on and above the old foreshore, and heavy debitage flakes were lying about in some quantity' (Mitchell 1972, 170). The distinctive chert from this site described as 'festoon' chert may have been quarried from Knockeyon Hill (WM012-209----) where natural outcrops of this chert can be found (Little 2014, 8). 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.