2009:721 - CONEY ISLAND, OYSTER ISLAND, CONORS ISLAND, DERNISH ISLAND, HORSE ISLAND Shell middens, Sligo

As part of the Sligo Islands Research Project, an archaeological sampling programme was carried out over three days in May 2009 by a team of archaeologists led by Dr Tatjana Kytmannow (Project Manager) and Dr Chris Hunt (Queen’s University, Belfast). This programme focused upon a series of shell middens on five islands in Sligo Bay, just one of which was previously recorded on the RMP (Coney Island, SL014–003). The middens under examination were surveyed and photographed prior to sampling and so an accurate visual and diagrammatic record of the features was created. A series of samples were then taken from each midden (including individual samples of bone, shell and stone in addition to larger bulk-soil samples containing shells, bones, etc.) and the locations from which the samples were taken were recorded on the section drawings. In certain cases, a series of samples were taken from a 100mmwide columnar section through the face of the midden so that the stratigraphy within the feature could be more fully understood. This project, which was funded by the Heritage Council, seeks to investigate early human settlement in the Sligo Bay area and the results will be published by the principal investigators in due course.