EMAP_Progress_Reports_2009_2.pdf - The Heritage Council

Clare
‘Glencurran Cave’ (Tullycommon td.), Co. Clare
Grid Ref: R27409631 (12740/19631)
SMR No: CL010-054
Excavation Licence: 04E0432; 05E0379; 08E0265
Excavation Duration/year: 12 weeks over 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009
Site Director: M. Dowd (Institute of Technology Sligo)
Glencurran Cave is situated on the southeastern side of Glencurran valley (110m 0D) in the
western part of the Burren National Park, close to the villages of Kilnaboy and Carron.
Excavations between 2004 and 2009 revealed evidence for Late Bronze Age votive deposition
and early medieval occupation. The early medieval evidence was uncovered primarily from
outside the cave entrance where some modification of the natural bedrock had taken place to
create a D-shaped platform (Fig. 50). Here, a hearth and a collection of early medieval
domestic artefacts were recovered. A Viking necklace was recovered deeper in the cave,
approximately 50m from the entrance).
The cave is over 750m in length, although only the outermost 65m is of archaeological
interest. Inside the entrance is a level area named the ‘Entrance Chamber’, connected by a
low narrow passage, less that 13m in length to the main cave passage.
A Neolithic and early Bronze Age lithic assemblage- cores, blades, flakes, scrapers and
retouched artefacts- were recovered from the entrance area as well as from deeper in the
cave system. middle Bronze Age ritual activity was concentrated around a dry-stone-built
cairn. Fragments of scallop shells, a shale axe, a rubbing stone, a copper-alloy object, a netsinker,
bone beads, perforated cowrie shells, perforated an un-perforated periwinkle shells,
amber beads and bead fragments, charcoal, animal bone and over 20 human bones were
recovered from disturbed deposits on the cave floor directly beneath the cairn. A middle
Bronze Age radiocarbon date was obtained from an adult human fibula (see below).
Evidence for late Bronze Age votive deposition was also discovered in the cave, approximately
45m from the entrance. An assemblage of disarticulated un-burnt human bones derived from
at least seven individuals – adults and young children - was recovered. These appeared to
have formed token deposits together with a large quantity of cowrie shell beads, periwinkle
shell beads, amber beads and the remains of three Late Bronze Age pottery vessels. Further
evidence for deliberate deposition of disarticulated human bones was found at the cave
entrance where a human bone produced a late Bronze Age/early Iron Age date (see below).
Evidence for early medieval occupation was identified primarily in the entrance chamber and
outside the cave entrance. The D-shaped platform outside the entrance appears to have been
deliberately modified to produce a level surface for domestic activity. Several prehistoric
lithics overlay the early medieval finds on the platform, suggesting that material was dug up
from inside the cave and dumped outside to create this platform.
The remains of a small crude stone-lined hearth were found immediately outside the entrance
and contained a charcoal-rich deposit with burnt and un-burnt animal bones. Charcoal from
the hearth came from a collection of twigs or small branches rather than mature wood. Along
with the size of the hearth and the relatively low quantity of charcoal, this indicates a small
low-intensity fire.
A series of limestone blocks were fitted across the cave entrance and may have functioned as
a plinth for a wooden door; a suggestion supported by the recovery of an iron barrel padlock
key inside the cave. Another crude arrangement of stone was identified in the southern part
of the entrance chamber and may mark an attempt at demarcating the living space between
the chamber and the passage during this period.
The main and only major occupation layer from the D-shaped platform included a socketed
iron sickle, a tanged iron knife, a stone spindle-whorl, a perforated iron strap, possibly from a
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