Archaeologists uncover megalithic monument thought to be unlike any found in Ireland to date

TheJournal.ie ^ | Friday, June 14, 2019 | Hayley Halpin

[SunkenCiv]

Carrowmore in the largest cemetery of megalithic tombs in Ireland, with 5,500-year-old passage tombs dating from 3,600 BC.

Archaeologists Dr Marion Dowd and Dr James Bonsall directed the excavation of a site that was formerly known as a barrow.

Barrows are circular earthen monuments surrounded by a circular ditch. These sites typically date to the Bronze Age and Iron Age, ranging from between 4,000 and 1,500 years old.

The excavation has revealed that some unexpected results – that the monument isn’t a barrow at all...

The team found that the circular ditch surrounded a central raised area that consisted of a thick circular layer of stone. Inside this was a sunken area with black, charcoal-rich soils.

[SunkenCiv]

for you maybe. :^)

[gleeaikin]

Maybe a cremation site?

[SunkenCiv]

These sites tended to get reused by later people, who, by that time, knew nothing about the origin.

[Alas Babylon!]

Well, sort of a fire pit.

Here's a young lass in the pit plate before they fired it up!

Erin go bra!