People, place and time on the Shannon estuary
Principal Investigators
Aidan O’Sullivan
Funding
The Discovery Programme
Abstract
The Shannon estuary today is a waterlogged landscape of grey, muddy
water, mudflats and marshes on the south-west coast of Ireland. Between
1992-2000, the Discovery Programme’s North Munster Project carried out
a pioneering intertidal archaeological survey on the estuary’s
mudflats, revealing spectacularly preserved archaeological evidence for
human activities in its marshlands from early prehistory to modern
times. Archaeological sites investigated include an enigmatic Neolithic
submerged forests, deposits of animal bone and a wetland occupation or
mortuary site, as well as Late Bronze Age houses and trackways that
indicate a range of social, economic and ritual activities in the
marshes. Early medieval wooden fishtraps testify to the work of local
fishing communities, as well as the role of work and practice in
people’s sense of identity and place over hundreds of years.
Post-medieval fishtraps demonstrate the importance of tradition and
continuity amongst local communities, and also hint at conflict and
class struggle in the exploitation of the estuary’s rich fishing
resources. Historical studies of the estuary’s post-medieval shipwrecks
have also testified to its role as a navigable, if dangerous routeway.
The Shannon estuary survey has been published in O’Sullivan, A. 2001 Foragers, farmers and fishers in a coastal landscape: an intertidal archaeological survey of the Shannon estuary, Discovery Programme/Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. (available from Royal Irish Academy or Amazon)
