1990:023 - TOORMORE, Cork

The excavation of this wedge tomb was carried out as part of the undergraduate training programme of the Dept. of Archaeology, UCC. Excavation was completed over a five-week period, June-July 1990 and was followed by restoration of the megalithic chamber in September 1990. The site is located on a 7m wide platform between two east-west rock ridges on the southern side of the main Schull-Goleen road. It was rediscovered in 1989 during excavation of the nearby Altar tomb, having been previously found in the 1930s by a local historian, Mr Bernard O'Regan of Aghadown, Co. Cork.

Before excavation the monument appeared to be a single slab-built gallery arrangement typical of wedge tombs in this area. It was in a ruinous condition, consisting of two standing orthostats opposite two fallen examples with a displaced capstone overlying another orthostat on the northwest side. Mr O'Regan reported that the site was interfered with in the 1930s when workers on the nearby Bantry Road junction removed a quantity of stone, knocking the capstones in the process. An area of 124 sq. m was excavated around the chamber which revealed further evidence of damage in the form of lazy-bed cultivation. The only structural feature discovered outside the chamber was a stone socket which could not be conclusively associated with the tomb.

Excavation of the central chamber revealed a series of humic sediments largely devoid of archaeological material. A shallow pit at the eastern end of the chamber produced a small fragment of cetacean bone (to be confirmed). In contrast with the nearby Altar tomb (Excavations 1989, 14), no sea-shells, fish-bone or cremated human bone was recovered. No unburnt human bone was found, though indirect evidence for burial is provided by a well-built stone-lined pit with cover-stone, located on the southern side of the central chamber area. Excavation revealed a number of construction features including the use of opposing trenches rather than individual sockets for the orthostats. Evidence of a closing end-slab slot was found at the eastern end of the chamber. There were no indications as to the manner in which the western end was sealed, while the tomb appeared to lack the low entrance kerb found at Altar.

Before excavation, a low spread of stones was evident on the north-west side of the tomb entrance, partly sealed by the displaced capstone. Excavation revealed a thin spread of field stones, included in which were what appeared to be a deliberate deposit of vein quartz pebbles. It is uncertain whether this loose spread of stones represents the basal stratum of a primary cairn or whether it is secondary accumulation. A low slab was discovered within the stone spread, set into a shallow pit at right angles to the exterior of the orthostat on the west side of the tomb entrance. A bronze axe and copper fragment dating to the later stages of the Irish Early Bronze Age, c. 1700-1500 BC, were found next to this stone. The stratigraphic position of these finds within the overall tomb sequence is uncertain. No other prehistoric artefacts were recovered at the site. A series of seven charcoal samples have been submitted to Groningen for radiocarbon dating.

Following excavation, the megalithic chamber was fully restored within a kerbed gravel area, with access paths leading from the nearby Altar Restaurant. The monument consists of a 4.25m-long gallery, varying in width from l.88m at the west (entrance) end to 1.2m at rear of the chamber. The gallery is composed of two sub-parallel orthostat rows; a northern row of three contiguous stones and a southern row of two slabs separated by a small gap. There is one extant capstone at the rear of the chamber; the second entrance capstone no longer survives. Internal chamber height ranges from 1.29m at the western entrance to 0.92m at the eastern end.