An archaeological treasure trove dating from 3500 BC can now be appreciated by scholars everywhere in a new book by Dr. Muiris O’Sullivan, Head of the UCD School of Archaeology.
Called ‘Duma na nGiall, Tara, The Mound of the Hostages’, the book encapsulates the excavations at the Mound of Hostages started by Seán P. Ó Ríordáin, UCD Professor of Celtic Archaeology in 1955 and completed by his successor, Professor Ruaidhrí de Valera, in 1959. Following fifteen years of investigation, O’Sullivan’s book supports their findings by the results of post-excavation analysis, including a series of more than sixty radiocarbon dates from samples of bone and charcoal.
The Mound of Hostages, the oldest visible monument on the Hill of Tara, encases a megalithic tomb built before 3,000 BC, and was used for burying human remains for more than 1,500 years after its construction. The earliest features recorded at the site date from about the mid-fourth millennium (cal) BC, while later features include a Late Bronze Age ring-ditch located beside the mound, a small number of Iron Age finds and some post-medieval activity. “Noteworthy features of the tomb include the presence of three cist-like annexes, and a collection of burnt and unburnt human bone representing hundreds of individuals, accompanied by a rich array of artefacts, some of which are decorated”, said Dr. O’Sullivan.
“Not only did the annexes include the remains of 55 adults, three children and four infants - more individuals than most excavated megalithic tombs have produced in total; but the main tomb housed the richest collection of Neolithic and early Bronze Age burials and artefacts known at the time and it has never been superseded”, said Dr. O’Sullivan. “It contained an enormous quantity of cremated and unburnt human bone representing more than 250 individuals and artefacts including decorative beads, pendants, bone and antler pins, a ceremonial battleaxe, bronze daggers, food vessels and urns.”
The National Museum has now taken all finds from the excavation into care and it is envisaged that at least some of them will go on display in due course.
Published December 2005, hardback, 334pp, 200 plates and figures.
Wordwell Books – http://www.wordwellbooks.com/book.php?id=424
ISBN 1869857933. €60
