2007:1701 - Longfordpass North, Tipperary

This site was identified along the M8/N8 Cullahill to Cashel proposed road development, during Phase II test excavation of the scheme, which dealt specifically with the areas of peat and forest omitted from Phase I test excavation. During this phase of testing archaeological wood was identified in the townland of Longfordpass North (Ch 23100–23180) on the margins of a raised bog. This site was located on the eastern margins of a narrow cusp of the Littleton raised bog complex.
The area highlighted for investigation measured 80m (east–west) by 45m. Four cuttings were opened up to examine archaeological deposits identified in test excavation. Worked wood was identified in each cutting, in the form of tangential and radial split timbers. Some degraded axe-marks were identified in Cutting 4. The timbers in Cutting 1, 3, and 4 may fall generally into the classification of archaeological wood (May et al., 2005a). Timbers in these cuttings were dated to the Final Neolithic/Early Bronze Age. Timbers within Cutting 2 may be indicative of a plank path, comparable to those excavated at Lisheen (ibid.), such as Derryfadda 23 and Cooleeny 22. These trackways were composed of single planks and were wide enough only to allow single-file traffic. This timber was radiocarbon dated to the Late Bronze Age (1194–1008 cal bc).
Both pollen and insect analysis indicated that this area had been within/close to alder carr woodlands, prior to its development from a fen to a raised bog. The location of this site at the edge of the fen within or close to marginal woodland is a pattern noted in the distribution of prehistoric trackways and platforms recorded on the Lisheen Mine Archaeological Project (May et al., 2005b, 352). Forty-seven structures at Lisheen were excavated within the marginal woodland. These trackways were necessary ‘to provide access through the very dense undergrowth and across pools of fen between root systems’ (ibid.) The trackways or structures were laid down in this area to allow access to fen bog, which may have supported seasonal gathering and hunting (ibid.) Pollen analysis in conjunction with radiocarbon dating evidence suggests the commencement of peat accumulation around 2400 bc. The transition from a fen environment to a raised bog environment occurred sometime around 1540 cal bc.
References
May, S.C., Murray, C., Ó Néill, J. and Stevens, P. 2005a Wetland structures: typologies and parallels. In M. Gowen, J. Ó Néill and M. Philips, The Lisheen mine archaeological project 1996–8, 209–21. Bray.
May, S.C., Murray, C., Ó Néill, J. and Stevens, P. 2005b Terrain sensitivity. In M. Gowen, J. Ó Néill and M. Philips, The Lisheen mine archaeological project 1996–8, 341–9. Bray.