2011:064 - FANORE MORE, Clare

The excavation was carried out in May/June 2011 on a shell midden (CL001-019), following on from a rescue excavation undertaken in 2009 (Excavations 2009, no. 93, 09E400).

The shell midden is in the townland of Fanore More and is situated on the south side of a small, west-north-west-facing beach at Trawvealacalaha, approximately 0.5km south of the main beach at Fanore. The midden had become exposed by the removal of sand owing to high seas and storms in the area.

The initial excavation (2009) yielded stone axes, shale and chert implements along with the shell deposits. A shell from the site produced a late Mesolithic–early Neolithic radiocarbon date.

The 2011 excavation, funded by the RIA, was carried out with the aims of obtaining further material for dating, understanding the extent of the shell and heat-shattered stone activity and determining the relationship between these deposits. Broader aims included the examination of domestic activity during the early prehistoric period in north Clare, adding to the chronology of early shell middens in Ireland and providing a context for previously recorded lithics from this period in the locality. A further objective was to provide correction factors for the upwelling effect on marine radiocarbon dates on the County Clare coast.

Three trenches and two test trenches were excavated.

Trench 3 measured 6m (east–west) by 2.1m and fulfilled the objective of establishing the relationship between the shell and burnt/shattered stone deposits. Further discrete deposits of shell were found, and the interface between the shell and burnt/shattered stone indicated that these deposits derived from related activities. Radiocarbon dates from shell, charcoal and burnt hazelnut shell will enable the longevity of the activity on the site to be established. As with the 2009 excavation, the shell types mainly included periwinkle, limpet and dog whelk, with the occasional clam and top shell. Most of the lithic assemblage was retrieved from this trench and amounted to almost 200 finds of shale, chert and flint. Apart from the axes and hammer-stone, most of the shale finds comprise large and small flakes.

A structure comprised of upright stones was found at the eastern end of Trench 3. It is stratigraphically later than the midden material. The northern and western sides had been completely removed by the sea, but the remaining stones were set into and supported by the sand and may be related to an as yet unexcavated structure at the eastern end of Trench 4.

Trench 4 measured 3.5m (north–south) by 1.7m and revealed that the shattered/burnt stone did continue towards the south along the trench but was far more dispersed than in Trench 3. A rectangular stone structure was located at the southern end of the trench.

Trench 5 was 3.5m (north-south) by 1.5m and only the topsoil and loose sand were excavated due to time constraints.

Test Trench A measured 1m by 1m and was located between the terrace edge to the east of the site and Trenches 3 and 5. It revealed some burnt/shattered stone but also other artefacts, including an elongated rubbing stone and some chert flakes, suggesting that further and possibly alternative activity was carried out in this part of the site.

Test Trench B, also 1m by 1m, was located to the south of Trenches 3, 4 and 5. No archaeological material was revealed, suggesting that the midden activity did not extend this far to the south.

Radiocarbon dates of 3966–3934 and 3874–3807 (1 sigma) cal. BC and 3980–3796 (2 sigma) cal. BC were obtained from a hazelnut sample within a mainly limpet context in Trench 3. This is the earliest recorded date from an excavation site in County Clare and, along with an initial assessment of the lithic assemblage, strongly suggests that late Mesolithic activity took place on the midden at the cusp of the Mesolithic/Neolithic transition.

Leana, Killinaboy, Co. Clare