County: Kerry Site name: ROSS ISLAND
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 05E0319
Author: William O’Brien, Department of Archaeology, National University of Ireland Galway
Site type: Cave
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 494183m, N 588759m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.040707, -9.542479
A small limestone cave on Ross Island, Killarney, was excavated over a three-week period in April 2005. This work was carried out to facilitate a bat conservation measure in Killarney National Park. The cave interior was excavated, revealing an organic silt horizon containing archaeological material overlying sterile fluvio-glacial sediment. Artefacts and evidence of fires, connected to sporadic use of the cave as a shelter in the post-medieval/modern era, were uncovered. A small quantity of copper-smelting slag, of an early medieval type found in the nearby Ross Island copper mine, was also recovered. This slag, together with a perforated whetstone and some animal bone, entered the rear of the cave as slopewash from the overlying escarpment, where a ruined souterrain was discovered. A large amount of animal bone of unknown date was recovered from the organic silt deposits in this cave. There is no conclusive evidence for human use of this cave in prehistory.
