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Seen & Found

1235720

Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 316 ✭✭Simon.d


    slowburner wrote: »
    Have a look here http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,619499,671422,7,8
    However, it doesn't quite align with the feature in the Bing image.

    The North boundary of that enclosure seems to share the south boundary of the feature I spotted... You can make out the two features together on the bing image I think, with the east and part of the south boundary of the OSI enclosure still above ground..


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,221 Mod ✭✭✭✭slowburner


    Simon.d I'd love to know how you operate : do you pick an area at random ? somewhere you know/near you ? and then investigate... or do you research a specific area and then decide to check out the aerial view ?

    I like to hover aimlessly over places near me ... :)

    I spotted this very broken up field near enough me, it comes up with a tortuous wall in the 6" map, but nothing recorded in Archeology.ie.
    But I'm trying to match that tortuous wall to what I see, and it seems like there maybe a bit more to it ?

    Here are the links
    http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,624028,606278,7,7
    http://binged.it/W9JM2v
    I think the walls were tortuous because of the old river terraces. Other walls were following water courses/tributaries
    Not really seeing much of interest around those particular fields.

    ...on the other hand, it might be time to stick on your wellies and have a look a bit further south.
    http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,623353,605624,6,8

    and see SMR no. WA014-005 Scartnadriny mountain

    Looking forward to seeing some pics from the ground ;)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 419 ✭✭bawn79


    Simon.d wrote: »
    There's alot going on methinks..

    The heavier recti/linear markings look to be field boundarys, while the less defined parallell markings look to be the remnants of plough furrows. The large circular enclosure could be ecclesiastical, the smaller ones look to be ring forts... Very busy & well preserved site!

    I think the big one is a barrow, I visited the place years ago. See below link for ground level pics

    http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/8314/carbury_hill.html


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 316 ✭✭Simon.d


    http://binged.it/UJqyoY - Anyone else seeing a hint of a bastion in the north west corner of this unlisted feature?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,593 ✭✭✭cfuserkildare


    Simon.d wrote: »
    There's alot going on methinks..

    The heavier recti/linear markings look to be field boundarys, while the less defined parallell markings look to be the remnants of plough furrows. The large circular enclosure could be ecclesiastical, the smaller ones look to be ring forts... Very busy & well preserved site!

    Just as a point of interest, was up at Carbury last weekend and it turns out that now there is no public access.
    Is this another site of interest that we are going to lose?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,700 ✭✭✭Mountainsandh


    sorry to be a pain, my eye is not as well trained as you guys, but here's another one from me, probably nothing. Although I'm not very good at it, I do enjoy looking :)

    Slowburner I usually have 2 young accolites and a dog tagging along, so places which are not easy to reach (fences to climb, etc...) are usually well... beyond my reach. There are lovely ringforts at Scart(nadriny) mountain, but I checked out access and it will have to be kept for a childless day. Pity some of the old pedestrian/cattle ways are often now private, and closed by owners.

    Anyway, here :

    The obvious fort is listed, interestingly the reinforcement/embankment too (rectangular to the left of it, very noticeable as you drive by), the other features (?) are not afair.
    I pass by often, and this field is extensively maintained, and extremely clean, one of these spotless farming examples.

    http://binged.it/U76bQs


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,221 Mod ✭✭✭✭slowburner


    There are certainly two depressions (the ones you circled) whether or not they are natural, is difficult to say.
    However, if you look at the image below, you can see that there is a kink in the field wall which seems to follow the easternmost depression. It's possible that it was paying respect to an earlier enclosure, or it might just have been built around a depression; it's difficult to say.
    The embankment just east of the enclosure looks like remains of an earlier field wall and might be giving a misleading impression that it forms part of an enclosure around the larger depression.

    If and when the field is ploughed, it could be well worth a bit of field walking.

    This image is an overlay of the 2nd edition OSI map over a Bing image.
    Probably not 100% to scale.

    229105.png


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 316 ✭✭Simon.d


    Had a windy flight over the Ballymoon Earthworks (http://binged.it/OfscZ8) yesterday. My full photoset is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/highinthesky/sets/72157632033593091/

    Any opinions on what this might be:

    D42x6.jpg?8791


    Located top right:

    8194191721_4986f52e6a_c.jpg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,021 ✭✭✭Coles


    An interesting snippet about Ballymoon Castle and some great photos.
    It is local legend that this castle was never finished and therefore never used. Although there is no reliable historical source for this the physical remains seem to indicate that this is the case. None of the inner building of the castle exist above the foundation level and considering the good condition of the outer wall it would appear that these were never built. One thing to always remember about these sites is that they do not exist within a vacuum but relate to and are largely shaped by the larger world. At the time the castle was built (shortly before 1300) Europe was entering a massive economic breakdown and recession following the collapse of many Italian banks and although a connection is impossible to make here I wonder if the effects of this recession were felt in Ireland and stopped the work on this castle. If this is the case then we have a parallel to today. Across Ireland we see abandoned building sites and maybe Ballymoon castle is a message from the past that tells us that what we are experiencing is nothing new. Ballymoon castle is the perpetual building site.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 316 ✭✭Simon.d


    Think there's a lot of new information in this model of the ballymoon earthworks, can make out a few new features.. Any ideas as to what's going on with the site?
    http://s15.postimage.org/o864xrp7t/ANIMATION.gif
    ANIMATION.gif


    Zoomed in Animations:
    http://s7.postimage.org/csgzty5k9/ZOOMED.gif
    http://s8.postimage.org/4u9pq0gxf/ZOOMED211.gif
    http://s10.postimage.org/n41mbhbnb/Zoomed3.gif


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,221 Mod ✭✭✭✭slowburner


    Don't mind me, just being over enthusiastic again I'm afraid... :o
    It is just a mesolithic site, where a few bits were recovered, but to me it seems really important because I'm in the middle of reading about these things.
    I was reading about the potential for more discoveries down here since this area escaped the ice, and of hope some day mesolithic human bones could finally be found.
    I only found out recently about the "Dungarvan valley" caves, where bones of wooly mammoth, wolf, giant Irish deer and bear were found. Some of these caves are still there, and have not been fully excavated, some have been destroyed. Some human bones were found, not mesolithic though.
    From what I gather more excavations/investigations were planned, but I doubt they ever took place, and that they will happen in the near future.
    The Waterford County Museum site is a brilliant site, full of information and brilliant collections of old photographs too.
    http://www.waterfordcountymuseum.org/exhibit/web/Display/article/5/

    a bit in p.26 there : http://www.epa.ie/licences/lic_eDMS/090151b280294c64.pdf
    lots more interesting in that report too about other time periods.

    this too : http://www.waterfordcoco.ie/en/services/conservationandheritage/archaeology/firstirishpeopleindungarvanvalley/

    Co Waterford is not exactly hectic as regards neolithic heritage, so it is nice to find excitement in other respects. :)
    This 2002 paper revisits the archaeology of Kilgreany cave.
    Well worth a read.
    http://www.academia.edu/437223/Kilgreany_Co._Waterford_biography_of_a_cave


  • Registered Users Posts: 85 ✭✭Prometheus


    Posted this in paleontology thread as well, top pic, bit older than normal but interesting anyway. Possibly fossilized Crenoids, fernlike seaweed.

    Second pic need some help. Not slag, very light. Again found in local park where landscaping is going on.


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,221 Mod ✭✭✭✭slowburner


    Looks like a fragment of a C.19th brick, possibly from a fire back.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,546 ✭✭✭✭Poor Uncle Tom


    slowburner wrote: »
    This 2002 paper revisits the archaeology of Kilgreany cave.
    Well worth a read.
    http://www.academia.edu/437223/Kilgreany_Co._Waterford_biography_of_a_cave
    Thank you, a golden find itself.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,546 ✭✭✭✭Poor Uncle Tom


    Prometheus wrote: »
    Second pic need some help. Not slag, very light. Again found in local park where landscaping is going on.
    A piece of burned brick. The outside smooth face would leads me to think it is a basic engineering brick (capable of carrying loads when built in bond) but the large air bubbles means it is not a fire brick, as they were worked to get the large air pockets out and as a result were much heavier and denser bricks.

    At a guess it looks like some 19th century English bricks I have seen, used extensively in housing here.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 728 ✭✭✭pueblo


    I found this sherd in the river today while out walking.

    Anyone care to hazard a date? It has a medieval feel to me.

    potery%201.jpg

    pottery%202.jpg

    pottery%203.jpg

    pottery%204.jpg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,516 ✭✭✭Maudi


    pueblo wrote: »
    I found this sherd in the river today while out walking.

    Anyone care to hazard a date? It has a medieval feel to me.

    potery%201.jpg

    pottery%202.jpg

    pottery%203.jpg

    pottery%204.jpg
    looks glazed.late medieval i.m.o...how lucky are you to be pulling these interesting pieces out of your river..are you finding them over a large area on the banks or on a particular stretch?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 728 ✭✭✭pueblo


    Maudi wrote: »
    looks glazed.late medieval i.m.o...how lucky are you to be pulling these interesting pieces out of your river..are you finding them over a large area on the banks or on a particular stretch?

    Nearly everything I have found has been along a 1km stretch of river. There is a spot where the river bed level drops where there is a 25m long gravel/cobble bed. Lighter material, like pottery sherds seem to catch on this bed. especially during/after flooding.

    During the spring this area is completely exposed as a little beach which makes it easier to spot stuff. The piece I found today was in water about 600mm deep, makes retrieving it a chilly experience!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,593 ✭✭✭cfuserkildare


    Hi,

    Just found this on Google Earth and wondered if anyone has any information about it.

    Co-ordinates are

    53°19'45.80"N

    6°34'51.56"W

    Have a look and let me know.

    Cheers.


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,221 Mod ✭✭✭✭slowburner


    It's all that remains of a probable ringfort. Listed on the SMR for Adrass lower KD011-005.
    About 5 fields west of this, there is another clearly visible cropmark (KD010-023).
    Unusually, the earthwork is shown clearly on the second ed. map but only as a sweep of trees on the first ed.
    NVAGL (not visible at ground level) :pac:

    236740.png

    236739.png

    Both images from http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,694531,731852,6,9


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 316 ✭✭Simon.d


    Simon.d wrote: »
    http://binged.it/WkS09T - Unlisted rectangular enclosure alongside Lough Derg..

    Got notification of a listing for this site today from the NMS:

    Description of TN019-052----
    A rectilinear ditched enclosure, of uncertain date, is visible as a cropmark on Bing aerial photographs dating from 2012 (http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=52.882189~-8.395395&lvl=17&dir=0&sty=h&form=LMLTCC , accessed 05 February 2012). The monument is located 170m E of the shoreline of Lough Derg. Nearby monuments include a medieval church (TN019-002001-) 150m to N, a possible medieval mill site (TN019-003----) 190m to the NNE and a medieval castle site (TN019-004----) 220m to the E. The enclosure which is aligned ENE-WSW on a similar axis to the nearby church is bisected by a field boundary running from NNE-SSW. The cropmark is best visible on the W side of this field boundary. The cropmark comprises of an inner bank and external ditch which defines a rectangular-shaped area. There is the cropmark of a possible trackway connecting the E angle of this enclosure with the medieval castle site (TN019-004----) to the E. The close proximity of the church, mill and castle suggests a possible relationship between these monuments. The rectilinear shape of the monument along with its close proximity to the medieval church (TN019-002001-), mill (TN019-003----) and castle (TN019-004----) suggests that this cropmark could be the remains of a medieval moated grange, or moated house. Alternatively the enclosure may be associated with ‘the Slate house’ or ‘Garden & orchard’ that is mentioned in the 1654-56 Civil Survey description of the Parish of Castletowne. The 1654-56 Civil Survey recorded that in this townland stood the ‘Castle of Castletowne (TN019-004----) sctiated close by the Shannon together with a barbicon & a Slate house (TN019-001001-) as alsoe a Garden & an Orchard a watermill (TN019-003----) and eight thatch tennem[en]ts, there also standeth the Parish Church of Castletowne (TN019-002001-)’ (Simington 1934 vol. 2,


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 419 ✭✭bawn79


    Simon.d wrote: »
    Got notification of a listing for this site today from the NMS:

    Description of TN019-052----
    A rectilinear ditched enclosure, of uncertain date, is visible as a cropmark on Bing aerial photographs dating from 2012 (http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=52.882189~-8.395395&lvl=17&dir=0&sty=h&form=LMLTCC , accessed 05 February 2012). The monument is located 170m E of the shoreline of Lough Derg. Nearby monuments include a medieval church (TN019-002001-) 150m to N, a possible medieval mill site (TN019-003----) 190m to the NNE and a medieval castle site (TN019-004----) 220m to the E. The enclosure which is aligned ENE-WSW on a similar axis to the nearby church is bisected by a field boundary running from NNE-SSW. The cropmark is best visible on the W side of this field boundary. The cropmark comprises of an inner bank and external ditch which defines a rectangular-shaped area. There is the cropmark of a possible trackway connecting the E angle of this enclosure with the medieval castle site (TN019-004----) to the E. The close proximity of the church, mill and castle suggests a possible relationship between these monuments. The rectilinear shape of the monument along with its close proximity to the medieval church (TN019-002001-), mill (TN019-003----) and castle (TN019-004----) suggests that this cropmark could be the remains of a medieval moated grange, or moated house. Alternatively the enclosure may be associated with ‘the Slate house’ or ‘Garden & orchard’ that is mentioned in the 1654-56 Civil Survey description of the Parish of Castletowne. The 1654-56 Civil Survey recorded that in this townland stood the ‘Castle of Castletowne (TN019-004----) sctiated close by the Shannon together with a barbicon & a Slate house (TN019-001001-) as alsoe a Garden & an Orchard a watermill (TN019-003----) and eight thatch tennem[en]ts, there also standeth the Parish Church of Castletowne (TN019-002001-)’ (Simington 1934 vol. 2,

    Great stuff Simon - fair play for following this up.

    Any more in the pipeline? I really enjoy this thread - posting on boards has been barred in work so havent been able to comment as much lately.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 316 ✭✭Simon.d


    bawn79 wrote: »
    Great stuff Simon - fair play for following this up.

    Any more in the pipeline? I really enjoy this thread - posting on boards has been barred in work so havent been able to comment as much lately.

    Thanks bawn, it was The Ormond History Group (who you suggested I contact) who sent it on to the NMS... It's a good result methinks, nice to think that it should (in theory) be protected for some future anaysis now..


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,900 ✭✭✭InTheTrees


    Yes, very well done.

    I noticed from Bing that the sun is very low which makes it much easier to pick out surface detail as there's more pronounced shadow.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,126 ✭✭✭Reoil


    Simon.d wrote: »
    http://binged.it/UDZWpz - Think I've found something quite significant here!

    After looking at the area on Google Maps, it all looks natural, to my untrained eye.


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,221 Mod ✭✭✭✭slowburner


    Dr.G, I'm curious about the evidence of 'modern' quarrying in picture 9.
    This is also evident at Castleruddery stone circle.

    240265.jpg

    I think it's widely believed that these marks are modern, but I'm not so sure.
    Would anyone want to split a stone from a site which is probably full of lore and superstition?
    Imagine how long it would take to carve those notches - even with iron or steel tools. That's not something I think anyone would do just to get themselves a useful lump of granite. Granite is plentiful in both of these sites - why would someone go to all the trouble of splitting a stone up there, away from habitation, when they could get one much closer to hand?


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,221 Mod ✭✭✭✭slowburner


    Maudi wrote: »
    twasnt that they was looking to "win"granite the destruction of megalithic monuments was rife and common place in the 17/18 century...indeed we have lost lots and lots of monuments to overtly religious and pious landowners who considered monuments/dolmens/cashels an affront to their religious beliefs and a systematic approach of destruction was commonplace..hence the attempt to "split"several stones found in the corner of castleruddery. along with several "toppled"dolmen capstones and the like..if they wernt blown up with gunpowder they were torn apart for walls/houses (connollys mountpellier)
    You might well be right about this, but it's a subject that may be worth further investigation.
    From around C.16th onwards, the technique for splitting large stones (monoliths, if you like) involved boring rather than chipping.
    This technique leaves distinctive marks as can be seen in this photo of an undated, partially worked granite pier (probably a gatepost or lintel). Most granite gate posts were worked in this manner.

    A6139889142545B7A937E800D3670815-0000345227-0002689301-00160L-00000000000000000000000000000000.jpg


    The boring and splitting technique is still used today, albeit with powerful hydraulic drills. Where no such power source was available, drilling was carried out using 'jumpahs' or 'jumpers'. This was a cast iron rod, held by one worker, and hit by another. The jumpah was turned each time a blow was delivered.
    This picture shows a detail an abandoned jumpah in a rock face close to the Avoca mines. It was one of three (still in situ) aligned to split a massive slab off the rock face. The workers who specialised in this particular form of quarrying were known as 'cloggers'. These jumpahs were abandoned during one of the many transitional phases at the mines and date to between 1890 - 1910.

    240392.jpg

    Bore marks with a diameter less than 30mm tend to predate the C.19th.
    The bore mark below is C.18th.

    CEDDBA370BF04C829617371E09860271-0000345227-0002518566-00160L-00000000000000000000000000000000.jpg

    This abandoned stone shows the plug and feathers still in situ, and the split neatly formed - it is probably recent.
    240393.jpg

    The purpose of these images is to show that the nature of post C.17th quarrying methods leave very clear and mostly dateable evidence.
    The marks on the orthostats at Ballyedmond and Castleruddery were not formed by boring - they were formed by chipping.
    I believe this is evidence that the chip marks predate the C.17th. Whether they were contemporary with the builders of the monuments, is another question.
    There may well have been a campaign in various places to rid the land of these pagan icons, but it makes no sense to me that this would be done in such a painfully slow and inefficient manner - particularly when the techniques for splitting stones with plug and feathers was commonplace and widespread.
    I'll stick my neck out and say that I think these chip marks are much, much earlier than the C.17th, but I don't have the evidence.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 316 ✭✭Simon.d


    Simon.d wrote: »
    http://binged.it/QPb9AY - Impressive earthwork fortifications in Kilkenny..


    Fortunately got to visit this site (Rathlogan, Co. Kilkenny) at the weekend, not the most successful flight, but got the following results.. Will hopefully get back for a second attempt.. A great Spot...


    jMLpePVl.jpg?1


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,021 ✭✭✭Coles




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 419 ✭✭bawn79


    Simon.d wrote: »
    Fortunately got to visit this site (Rathlogan, Co. Kilkenny) at the weekend, not the most successful flight, but got the following results.. Will hopefully get back for a second attempt.. A great Spot...


    jMLpePVl.jpg?1

    Great stuff - is this a new find?


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 316 ✭✭Simon.d


    bawn79 wrote: »
    Great stuff - is this a new find?

    Not a new find, but there's not much information on it at the same time. Just had the oppurtunity to fly the RC plane over it at the weekend..


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,221 Mod ✭✭✭✭slowburner


    Saddle quern in a dry stone wall in SW Wicklow.

    243582.JPG


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,221 Mod ✭✭✭✭slowburner


    This rather unremarkable mound in south Wicklow is a confirmed Bronze age burial, soon to be registered as a National monument, and found by yours truly.
    The mound is situated on a commanding escarpment with clear views to the east, south and west. It is 15m in diameter and approximately 0.6m high.

    243700.jpg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 728 ✭✭✭pueblo


    slowburner wrote: »
    This rather unremarkable mound in south Wicklow is a confirmed Bronze age burial, soon to be registered as a National monument, and found by yours truly.
    The mound is situated on a commanding escarpment with clear views to the east, south and west. It is 15m in diameter and approximately 0.6m high.

    6034073

    Great work, congratulations. You get to name it? :)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,965 ✭✭✭GhostInTheRuins


    Fair play SB. Could you link to the picture again because it's not working now by the looks of it.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,073 ✭✭✭littlemac1980


    So I had to take a detour to Work Today due to a jack-knifed truck on the main road. I had to go by Ardpatrick near the Ballyhoura Mountains, in Cork.

    I saw what was clearly the ruins of a substantial sized structure on a hill just to the South-West (about 200-300 metres) of the town.

    So when I got to work I checked out bing maps and noted the structure was clearly visible on it.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/78280664@N03/8570685375/in/photostream

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/78280664@N03/8571775968/in/photostream

    But then when I checked the Osi maps - I noticed that while the Church in Ruins (w Graveyard) and Round tower which appear to be visible in Bing Maps to the South of the extensive ruins I've mentioned, are noted in the Osi, there is no record of anything else to explain the extensive ruins just North of Those.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/78280664@N03/8571776042/

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/78280664@N03/8571776022/

    Any ideas?

    A monastery perhaps?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,073 ✭✭✭littlemac1980


    I hope this will allow the pictures to be seen outright:

    245562.jpg

    245563.jpg

    245564.jpg

    245565.jpg

    Ardpatrick OSI25.jpg

    Ardpatrick view.jpg

    Ardpatrick.jpg

    Ardpatrick OSI6.jpg



    btw its in Co. Limerick not Co. Cork as I said above.


  • Registered Users Posts: 429 ✭✭Neutronale


    Hi,

    Just found this on Google Earth and wondered if anyone has any information about it.

    Co-ordinates are

    53°19'45.80"N

    6°34'51.56"W

    Have a look and let me know.

    Cheers.




    Rath or ringfort, but there seems to be an associated sub-rectangular feature to the nroth and leaning to the west.

    I've read some recent excavations in which Iron age field enclosures were posited for such features or could be a veg garden, iow a non-ploughed field.


  • Registered Users Posts: 429 ✭✭Neutronale


    slowburner wrote: »
    Saddle quern in a dry stone wall in SW Wicklow.

    243582.JPG
    Pull that sucker out of there, put on mantle, 2,000 years of history right there :)


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  • Registered Users Posts: 429 ✭✭Neutronale


    slowburner wrote: »
    This rather unremarkable mound in south Wicklow is a confirmed Bronze age burial, soon to be registered as a National monument, and found by yours truly.
    The mound is situated on a commanding escarpment with clear views to the east, south and west. It is 15m in diameter and approximately 0.6m high.

    243700.jpg

    Excellent.

    There was a similar mound on the edge of an arch site in Scotland, so eventually curiosity got the better of them and they excavated the mound...

    Hey presto, viking chief in boat burial :eek:

    viking-burial-reconstruction.jpg


    http://www.history.com/news/viking-chief-buried-in-his-boat-found-in-scotland


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,221 Mod ✭✭✭✭slowburner


    Neutronale wrote: »
    Pull that sucker out of there, put on mantle, 2,000 years of history right there :)
    You'd be amazed how many people actually have that attitude.


  • Registered Users Posts: 429 ✭✭Neutronale


    slowburner wrote: »
    You'd be amazed how many people actually have that attitude.

    Its already been taken out of archaeological context by the wall builder, just replace with nice rock ;)


  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,221 Mod ✭✭✭✭slowburner


    Neutronale wrote: »

    Its already been taken out of archaeological context by the wall builder, just replace with nice rock ;)
    The wall is in fact, part of a superbly preserved ringfort.
    The original context was lost a long time ago when the mason picked up the convenient stone.
    Now it has entered, not only the structure of the wall, but the very fibres of the web of history and prehistory surrounding this magnificent national monument.
    This bronze age site was in use up until the late medieval period. Think how important the quern is in indicating the continuity of habitation in this place.

    One of the most important concepts in archaeology is the palimpsest - a bit like peeling the layers of skin from an onion.
    A find, no matter how trivial, can indicate the presence of a people at a particular period.
    This humble stone is one layer of this rath's palimpsest.
    Finds are not always stratigrapically arranged, as in this case, but it is a clear pointer to habitation before the construction of the rath.

    I think it tells a better story where it is then on somebody's mantelpiece, and I worry that anyone here would think otherwise.


  • Registered Users Posts: 429 ✭✭Neutronale


    slowburner wrote: »
    The wall is in fact, part of a superbly preserved ringfort.
    The original context was lost a long time ago when the mason picked up the convenient stone.
    Now it has entered, not only the structure of the wall, but the very fibres of the web of history and prehistory surrounding this magnificent national monument.
    This bronze age site was in use up until the late medieval period. Think how important the quern is in indicating the continuity of habitation in this place.

    One of the most important concepts in archaeology is the palimpsest - a bit like peeling the layers of skin from an onion.
    A find, no matter how trivial, can indicate the presence of a people at a particular period.
    This humble stone is one layer of this rath's palimpsest.
    Finds are not always stratigrapically arranged, as in this case, but it is a clear pointer to habitation before the construction of the rath.

    I think it tells a better story where it is then on somebody's mantelpiece, and I worry that anyone here would think otherwise.

    Aha, that changes everything, the quern stays :)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,700 ✭✭✭Mountainsandh


    I absolutely do not condone even thinking of removing such a stone in such context, but Slowburner, looking at the bigger picture, wouldn't people doing such a thing be participating themselves in another palimpsest ?

    After all, their crumbled and overgrown semi-di with such a remarkable mantelpiece might well be archeology for post-comet/nuclear disaster generations ?

    Isn't that exactly what some farmers did when they reincorporated found sheila na gigs to their farm walls ? (I think there's supposed to be such a case in co Waterford or Tipp near me, never saw it and wouldn't know where to look though).

    The Knockboy Church near me has reused ogham stones as window mantels (technical word ?) too.


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  • Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,221 Mod ✭✭✭✭slowburner


    I absolutely do not condone even thinking of removing such a stone in such context, but Slowburner, looking at the bigger picture, wouldn't people doing such a thing be participating themselves in another palimpsest ?
    After all, their crumbled and overgrown semi-di with such a remarkable mantelpiece might well be archeology for post-comet/nuclear disaster generations ?
    I suppose they would, but archaeology is learning about past people from the physical evidence they leave behind. If the evidence is not in context or the physical connection to a place is broken, then the evidence can only inform us about itself - not about the place where it was deposited.
    The purpose of archaeology is not to collect artefacts - it is not treasure hunting.
    A find is really only an indicator of what happened, and when it happened in a particular place. We want to know when people were present in a place and the most reliable way of doing this, is by dateable physical evidence present in an undisturbed context.

    Their remarkable mantlepiece would have no connection to its place of origin. It would just be an isolated stone without any continuity of connection to the past.
    If something is removed from its original context, all it can tell us is that it was taken out of its original context.

    Isn't that exactly what some farmers did when they reincorporated found sheila na gigs to their farm walls ? (I think there's supposed to be such a case in co Waterford or Tipp near me, never saw it and wouldn't know where to look though).

    The Knockboy Church near me has reused ogham stones as window mantels (technical word ?) too.
    Yes indeed.
    Stones were often reused and still are, even decorative/carved ones, but the earlier they were reused, the less likely they were to have been transported far from their original context.
    Nowadays, things can end up on a Chinese mantlepiece within 24 hours.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,700 ✭✭✭Mountainsandh


    What I meant was not so much that the piece would "speak" about itself, but it would tell about the people who picked it and uprooted it.

    Just like we can infer from people reusing religious on non religious artefact whether they reverred or respected the ancients, or not, what was important to them, or not, what society of their time was like.

    The fact that the piece would be found on a modern mantelpiece, devoid of context and history, and yet older in age to its surroundings, would tell a lot about the vanity of the people who plundered it, their non existent or different religious beliefs (if it was a religious piece), their love for materialism, etc...

    I am looking at it from the point of view of the archeologist of next century studying us (or them, be they Chinese or otherwise), not the piece in question really.
    For that archeologist, there will be a context, and layers.
    There will be the remains of a hair straightener and possibly some HD tv fixtures, some other 21st century objects, and in the middle of that, a strikingly older period object, possibly of a remote provenance on the planet.

    Imagine if you found an Irish Sheila Na Gig in a 19th century Chinese mining settlement. The item has lost some context but found a new one.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 419 ✭✭bawn79


    So I had to take a detour to Work Today due to a jack-knifed truck on the main road. I had to go by Ardpatrick near the Ballyhoura Mountains, in Cork.

    I saw what was clearly the ruins of a substantial sized structure on a hill just to the South-West (about 200-300 metres) of the town.

    So when I got to work I checked out bing maps and noted the structure was clearly visible on it.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/78280664@N03/8570685375/in/photostream

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/78280664@N03/8571775968/in/photostream

    But then when I checked the Osi maps - I noticed that while the Church in Ruins (w Graveyard) and Round tower which appear to be visible in Bing Maps to the South of the extensive ruins I've mentioned, are noted in the Osi, there is no record of anything else to explain the extensive ruins just North of Those.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/78280664@N03/8571776042/

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/78280664@N03/8571776022/

    Any ideas?

    A monastery perhaps?

    I visited this great spot a few years ago and recorded some info from the local information boards as linked.

    http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/11386/ardpatrick.html

    It says "A series of earthen banks and enclosures near the summit date from the Iron Age (500BC - 500AD). Its later adaption as a monastic settlement suggests that it had a religious significance prior to the arrival of Christianity."


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,073 ✭✭✭littlemac1980


    bawn79 wrote: »
    I visited this great spot a few years ago and recorded some info from the local information boards as linked.

    http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/11386/ardpatrick.html

    It says "A series of earthen banks and enclosures near the summit date from the Iron Age (500BC - 500AD). Its later adaption as a monastic settlement suggests that it had a religious significance prior to the arrival of Christianity."

    Wow thanks for that link and the answer.

    I imagine at some point in the past it must have been a wonderful sight located as it is on a hill close to the some of the steepest parts of the Ballyhoura range - which wouldn't have been covered in coniferous trees back then either.


  • Registered Users Posts: 429 ✭✭Neutronale


    The reuse of the neolithic "passage tomb" at Knowth is quite interesting. It was chosen as a site for a village during the early medieval period...

    Knowth, Co. Meath
    Grid reference: N99677343 (299674/273437)
    SMR No: ME019-030
    Reference: Eogan 1968; Eogan 1974; Eogan 1977; McCormick & Murray 2007.

    Knowth is a large multi-period burial and settlement complex that was utilised from the Neolithic until
    post medieval times. During the early medieval period, there were two main phases of activity on the
    site – a bivallate raised enclosure; and an unenclosed settlement.

    The Neolithic passage tomb mound was the focus of the first early medieval phase at Knowth. During
    the seventh and eighth centuries two concentric ditches were excavated into the mound. No internal
    domestic features were identified but both occupational and dating evidence was present in the
    enclosure ditches and mostly within the outer enclosure ditch.

    Artefacts from this phase included a sherd of E ware and a single-edged bone comb from the lower
    fills of the inner enclosure ditch. The former demonstrates that the inner enclosure was in use
    between the sixth and mid-seventh centuries. Bronze items included a potential ear scoop, two
    possible spoons and three penannular brooches with zoomorphic terminals. A melon bead was also
    uncovered.

    A small mixed cemetery of crouched, flexed and extended burials was associated with the passage
    tomb, some contemporary with this first early medieval phase. The final group of burials included
    three seventh- and eighth-century disturbed extended inhumations.

    The first phase of early medieval activity at Knowth ceased by the end of the eighth century and
    occupational evidence during the following century is absent. In the tenth century a large unenclosed
    settlement was established. This included 15 houses, nine souterrains, five metalworking areas,
    cobbled and paved surfaces and many hearths. The houses were rectangular with rounded corners
    and some examples had central hearths on stone floors; and some of the souterrains were associated
    with the houses.


    Many crafts and industries were practised on the site, including ironworking, bronze-working, goldworking
    and enamelling, as well as stone-working, bone-working and antler-working. Leather and
    textile also appears to have been produced on site. Artefacts from this phase were more abundant
    than that of the earlier phase and included many items of personal adornment. These included a
    range of metal ringed and stick pins dating between the tenth and thirteenth centuries, bone pins,
    belt buckles, bone combs and jet bracelets. Functional items were represented by iron knives,
    needles, seven quern stone fragments, grindstones, a horse bridle and flint scrapers.

    http://www.emap.ie/documents/EMAP_Report_5_Archaeology_of_Livestock_and_Cereal_Production_WEB.pdf


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