2000:0116 - BOULYSALLAGH, Cork

A sample excavation of a primitive copper mine took place here in April 2000. The site is located 1km south-west of Goleen village, at the western end of the Mizen Peninsula. It consists of a series of shallow openings and associated spoil deposits along a west-facing hill slope, with a large spread of spoil on level ground below. The area was the target of mining speculation in the 1850s, which disturbed much of the earlier primitive mine archaeology. Prospecting in 1853 led to the discovery of the ‘Danes Lode’, where at least one surface opening was found to contain up to 2m of peat overlying stone mining hammers. Two exploratory workings were driven. However, this prospecting was abandoned shortly afterwards.

A detailed survey has been undertaken as part of this archaeological investigation. In addition, a test-pit 1m by 1m was excavated on a spoil deposit adjacent to one of the surface mine openings. This exposed several layers of broken rock sediment, containing charcoal and a large number of stone mining hammers. These rounded cobble tools are very similar in terms of haft modification to those found in the Mount Gabriel copper mines of this peninsula. A charcoal sample recovered from a depth of 1m within this primitive mine sediment has been radiocarbon dated to 3480±35 BP (GrN-25561). This result is consistent with radiocarbon dates obtained for other primitive copper mines in the West Cork region. The Boulysallagh mine is part of a distinct horizon of copper-bed mining in this region during the latter stages of the Early Bronze Age, c. 1800–1400 BC.

This investigation is part of an ongoing programme of scientific dating of primitive copper mines in south-west Ireland, funded by the Department of Archaeology, NUI, Galway, and supported by Jan Lanting, Rijksuniversiteit, Groningen.