Iron Age Roof Archaeology Ireland

500bc 400ad the iron age remains a somewhat enigmatic period in irish prehistory with a relative dearth of settlement evidence compared to earlier and later periods.

Iron age roof archaeology ireland.

These two thousand year old stone structures date from the iron age and it is estimated that at least seven hundred brochs once existed across scotland. This view has been somewhat upset by the recent carbon dating of the wood shaft of a very elegant iron spearhead found in the river inny which gave a date of between 811 and 673 bc. And 600 b c depending on the region and followed the stone age and bronze age. In 1985 the flat cap stone was temporarily removed to allow replacement of one of the support stones which was cracked and in danger of collapse.

Located on the bare upland limestone landscape it has become one of the iconic images of ancient ireland. It is not easy said dr katharina becker a lecturer in archaeology at university college cork who is delving into the landscape of south eastern ireland to find out what people grew and ate in the iron age as far back as 2 700 years ago. Since the 1960s archaeologists have recognized navan fort as a complex religious site that was used by the elite as long ago as the late bronze age and the iron age or about 1000 b c. A reconstruction of a british iron age celtic roundhouse.

Ultimately a record of all excavated sites in ireland that have been dated to the iron age or were found to contain an iron age phase of activity was compiled and subjected to a preliminary analysis and cultural. Burnt animal bone from one of these gullies produced a date of 160 bc ad 60 2025 30 bp. This is an important site not only because it adds to the limited corpus of excavated iron age settlement sites in ireland but also due to the presence of high status metalworking and artefacts. The irish iron age has long been thought to begin around 500 bc and then continue until the christian era in ireland which brought some written records and therefore the end of prehistoric ireland.

The iron age was a period in human history that started between 1200 b c. Most are now in a poor state of repair but the most complete examples can only be said to resemble the cooling towers of modern power stations. Roundhouses were the standard form of housing built in britain from the bronze age throughout the iron age and in some areas well into the sub roman period. It dates back to the neolithic period around 3 800bc.

Where houses do occur they appear to have been circular like their bronze age predecessors. Iron age sites a suspicion that needed to be tested.