Kador, Thomas; Schuldenrein, Joseph; Green, Stanton; (2023) Portalis Project: Lithic Artefact Review, Co. Waterford, Ireland. Geoarcheology Research Associates: New York, NY, USA.

Text Kador_GRA_Lithics_Report_July_2023.pdf - Other Access restricted to UCL open access staff Download (4MB)

Abstract

AIMS AND CONTEXTS: The Waterford Estuary is an area of huge potential for aiding our understanding of earlier prehistoric settlement and human activity in southeast Ireland. In particular, the area’s combination of archaeological and environmental settings makes it especially useful for investigating human environment interactions, including how prehistoric communities lived with and responded to the significant climatic uncertainties of the early Holocene. The report begins by providing the relevant archaeological context for prehistoric evidence from the region, including a review of recent work conducted in the area. In line with the deliverables of Schedule 2 of the Portalis project artefact review, the core part of the report represents initial steps towards the integration of a number of key assemblages of prehistoric lithic artefacts from the region; namely that of the Ballylough Archaeological Project, the surface collections of Noel McDonagh and the finds from the test excavations on Creadan Headland. ANALYSIS:: Given the fact that the McDonagh collection has hitherto not seen a professional archaeological focus, a core part of the report represents a detailed analysis of the entire Fornaght assemblage from the McDonagh collection (n=337). This material will be discussed in comparison – both archaeologically and geographically – to the artefacts collected at Fornaght by the Ballylough project some 20-30 years earlier. This has been done by way of a feasibility study, demonstrating the merit of fully integrating the entire McDonagh collection (c.5600 objects) with other prehistoric assemblages from the region. RESULTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: The McDonagh collection from Fornaght townland is broadly comparable to the Ballylough assemblage from the same area with the key addition that it contains a more definitive early Mesolithic dimension compared to the Ballylough material. This is an exciting addition and in combination with the assemblage from recent excavations on Creadan Head as well as a number of early Mesolithic finds from the N25 Waterford Bypass Scheme clearly demonstrates the presence of early Mesolithic activity around the Waterford estuary. Given the great potential of having these different collections from a relatively confined area, it will be vital that the McDonagh collection in particular receives detailed analysis in full in order to be integrated with the other existing material as well as the recent palaeoenvironmental work in the region.

Download activity - last month

Export as CSVXMLJSON

Download activity - last 12 months

Export as JSONXMLCSV

Downloads by country - last 12 months

Export as JSONXMLCSV

Archive Staff Only

View Item