JavaScript must be enabled in order for you to use Google Maps.
However, it seems JavaScript is either disabled or not supported by your browser.
To view Google Maps, enable JavaScript by changing your browser options, and then try again.

Introduction

The Lisheen Archaeological Project arose as a result of an environmental impact study prepared in advance of the development of a large lead/zinc mine near Moyne, Co. Tipperary. The focus of the project was Derryville Bog, a 'peninsula' of Bord na Mona-worked raised peat bog that forms the southern extent of the Littleton raised bog complex. This area, which incorporates parts of the townlands of Derryfadda, Killoran and Cooleeney, was chosen as the site of the Tailings Management Facility for the mine.

The framework for the Lisheen Archaeological Project was based on the planning requirement to provide an archaeological record of the development area in advance of development. The project's interdisciplinary nature was essential to its academic design, which sought in the first instance, to provide a comprehensive study of the underlying topography of the peat basin (Casparie and Owens) and its surroundings to facilitate the study of the peat development and its hydrology. Palynology and related palaeoenvironmental studies (Caseldine, Geary, Hatton, Reilly and Stuijts) augmented the archaeological excavations (Murray, Stevens, Ó Néill and Cross), allowing the archaeological findings to be interpreted within the context of the development of the peat basin.

Peat Topography and Palaeoenvironmental Analyses

Introduction
The Lisheen Archaeological Project provided a unique opportunity to combine archaeological and palaeoecological approaches to a large wetland area, on a scale never before implemented in Ireland within such a short time period. The range of techniques applied and the results obtained highlighted the differences in the sensitivity of each approach in determining the character of the local environment and how it changed through time. While the results were closely integrated during the study, as well as at the conclusion, there was no overlap in the parameters of the application of each element. This preserved the integrity of the independent studies and also the integrated conclusions.

Palaeohydrology
The palaeohydrology of the bog was derived using a combination of peat stratigraphy, humification and analysis of the water table fluctuations using testate amoebae. In particular, the effects of a series of bog bursts identified on peat stratigraphic grounds by Wil Casparie could be seen through sharp drops in the water table, as occurred in c. 800 BC. The time the bog watertable took to recover from this catastrophe could also be traced. In some cases, the bog took up to two centuries to recover, and the drier bog surface allowed an increase in local human activity, seen in the form of platforms or trackways.

Palynology
The principal aim of the pollen analysis was to determine a sequence of change on the dryland areas surrounding the bog. Comparison of the Derryville record with that further north at Corlea shows remarkable similarities in the sequences, with periods of woodland loss and regeneration appearing to occur at very similar times between 1300 BC and AD 400. Comparisons of the pollen record with other records from Derryville, however, and with the inferred human sequence seen in the archaeological record found both agreement and differences. The building of the paved causeway Killoran 18 and the plank trackway Derryfadda 23 took place in a period in which the pollen shows woodland removal and consistent local human presence. All pollen diagrams, which cover the first half of the first millennium AD, show extensive woodland regeneration, which agrees with a major lacuna in the archaeological record. However, whilst the pollen shows a phase of woodland regeneration between 1300 and 1000 BC, albeit with some local human presence, 1300 BC marks a major shift in the nature of woodland management, as indicated by the analysis of the wood remains. Furthermore, there is no archaeological evidence for any significant reduction in human activity at this time.

Insect Remains
Coleoptera were best preserved and most diverse in fen and carr conditions and proved very useful in highlighting contrasts in water quality, vegetation and land use between different areas. The sites at Derryville also proved important for finds of species not now recorded or rare in Ireland, especially those characteristic of primary or undisturbed woodland. Prostomis mandibularis, now extinct both in Ireland and Britian and confined to very limited areas within Europe, was found in association with timbers of the trackway Derryfadda 23 dated to either 1606 ± 9 BC or 1590 ± 9 BC. This species, characteristic of infestation of damp, rotting wood lying undisturbed on forest floors, has only been found previously at Thorne Moors and at Sweet Track in the Somerset Levels. The Coloeptera analysis also indicated spatial trends across the dryland areas. All the indicators of primary woodland were derived from the eastern margins of the bog, despite examination of sites of comparable age from the western margins. This is strongly suggestive of survival primarily to the east, with settlement and woodland disturbance much more extensive to the west. The Coleopteran evidence is supported by the analysis of woodland remains from both archaeological and environmental contexts and also by subsequent survey and excavation of the dryland areas. In general, the Coleoptera evidence amplifies the findings of the peat stratigraphic work and palaeohydrological analyses regarding the development of the bog and provide a fairly discerning picture of the local diversity of vegetation communities through time.

Wood Analysis
Over 8,000 samples of uncharred and charred wood remains, environmental and archaeological, from both wetland and dryland contexts and for all periods examined in the project were examined. Comparisons were made between material recovered from either side of the bog, and in the case of charcoal, from sites on the dryland, west of the bog as well.

Generally, the more limited charcoal assemblage mirrored the bog assemblage. There was a greater emphasis on Quercus (oak) in the charcoal retrieved from dryland sites. The condition of the charcoal also suggested that it was fallen, rather than felled, wood. The low level of Corylus (hazel) illustrates the survival of the primary and marginal woodlands in the east. This is a feature paralleled in the Coleopteran evidence but not discernible in the woodland pollen. From the earliest substantial assemblages, around 2000 BC, until 1300 BC, the wood usage seems to reflect the surviving primary and sub-primary woodland. Alnus (alder), Quercus (oak) and Fraxinus (ash) are all well represented in the earlier period, with Corylus (hazel) increasing at the expense of all three after 1300 BC, reflecting an emerging tradition of woodland management.

Understorey species and others found as isolated trees were well represented in the wood remains, including Taxus (yew), Malus (crab apple; indication of some form of management), Prunus spinosa (blackthorn/sloe), Sorbus (rowan) and Prunus avium/padus (wild cherry/bird cherry).

 
Archaeological Chronology

The Neolithic (4300-2800 BC)
The earliest archaeological dates, 3339-2924 BC and 3020-2613 BC, were obtained from two cleft timbers recovered from the northeastern side of the bog, although some peat deposits gave an earlier date of 3368 BC. A small number of pottery sherds were tentatively identified as Neolithic.

Final Neolithic/Copper Age (2800-2350 BC)
A small number of late Neolithic pottery sherds with possible Baker affinities were uncovered from an area beyond the western limits of the bog (Killoran 15). One fulacht fiadh, or cooking site, was dated to 2585-2195 BC (Killoran 17).

Early Bronze Age (2350-1700 BC)

Typical Bronze Age structures begin to appear between 2350 and 1700 BC. Five sites were dated to this period. Two short trackways, or access routes, were located in the southeastern corner of the bog (Derryfadda 204 and 207). A badly degraded wooden platform was found on the fen margin (Derryfadda 218). A fulacht fiadh (Killoran 304) was also dated to this period, but the low volume of firing debris suggested that the site was not in use for a long period of time. A deposit of charcoal (Killoran 18) that may represent an informal hearth or scrub clearance by burning was dated to 2133-1548 BC. The pollen evidence certainly indicates tree clearance in the surrounding dry land, which was heavily forested at the time.

Middle Bronze Age (1700-1200 BC)

The middle Bronze Age turns up a substantial settlement, a burial site, the first fulacht fiadh (Killoran 240, 316, 5, 265) with trough linings and the first causeway across the bog. The causeway (Killoran 18) was built in two phases: a double stake row and brushwood track, followed by a stone and wood structure. An unenclosed settlement (Killoran 8), including two complete roundhouses, was dated to 1775-1430 BC). A very large flat cremation cemetery containing over 28 unmarked, simple individual cremation pits was located on a dry plateau beyond the western margins of the bog. These finds reflect a prolonged period of settlement in the 16th and 15th centuries BC, borne out by the pollen record, which indicates a significant clearance of trees, particularly elm and ash, with increased severity up to about 1250 BC.

Late Bronze Age (1200-650 BC)
The late Bronze Age sees the continuing use of trackways, fulacht fiadh and platforms, but also the first stake row marking off a hazardous area of bog. There is also continuing evidence for burials and fulacht fiadh on the surrounding dry land. The pollen record suggests a lull in forest clearance between 1310 and 1000 BC, followed by a renewed attack between 1000 and 600 BC. However, the construction of sites appears to cluster around 1250 BC, when the hydrology of the bog was severely altered, leading to a burst.

Late Bronze Age-Iron Age Transition (650-460 BC)
The main site types continue in use into the Iron Age, but the fulacht fiadh appear to pass out of use. As the Bronze Age proceeds, the raised bog gradually encroaches on the marginal fens. There is no evidence of dry-land activity between 650 and 460 BC, and the pollen record indicates a low level of human activity. A short-lived causeway that may have precipated a bog burst was constructed around 600 BC. The wood associated with various trackways dated to this period document the possible appearance of iron axes around 600 BC.

Iron Age (460 BC-AD 450)
Raised bog completely dominates the environment during the Iron Age. A number of substantial trackways are present, but most of the sites dating to this period were constructed in a fairly casual fashion. The sites in the western section, however, are distinct due to their use of tightly packed roundwoods; they were clearly in use for as much as 20 years. Hurdles, or woven panels of wood, were found in the northwest. These structures are a widely used and efficient element in landscape management and were probably used expediently to deal with the particularly wet nature of the fen at this time. A number of timber platforms were located in the bog margins.

Early Medieval Period (AD 650-1250)
The archaelogical record is dormant for about six centuries after the Iron Age but re-emerges in the early medieval with the appearance of a much more widespread group of elements across the bog than hitherto found. A trackway dated to AD 1024-1162 was part of a cluster of 26 trackways around the northern Killoran headland. At Killoran 3, there is evidence for an early Christain drainage system for agriculture. Three stake rows dated to AD 640-890 probably marked off dangerous areas of the bog. Two possible hut sites, one of which provided evidence for a possible settlement on the raised bog surface, were located in the western bog margin. These hut sites, together with a number of unrelated sites in the far west of the Killoran dryland, define an early phase of activity between the 6th and 9th centuries AD. A second phase of activity between the 10th and 12th centuries was evident from a cluster of material in the northwest of the bog study area, close to the Killoran headland, and from some of the dryland material. The southern extent of the Killoran townland contains an early ecclesiastical settlement within a large circular enclosure. This site is referred to in the townland name Killoran, which is derived from the Irish Cill œ dhr« in, the church of St. Odran. This saint, one of Columba's first companions at Iona, died shortly after his arrival in AD 563.