2016:470 - Turin, Kilmaine, Co, Mayo., Mayo

This licence was sought to retrieve sample material from the ditch-fill of a multivallate enclosure (MA121-033) in the townland of Turin, Kilmaine Co. Mayo. This was carried out in order to analyse the pollen content thus providing a profile of vegetation over time. Material from the sample can be sieved to retrieve carbon-dateable matter at depths along the core that are identified by notable changes or events in the pollen profile.

Using a 30mm diameter single gouge auger with an operational length of 1m, a vertical core sample was retrieved from a water-logged section in the north-eastern sector of the first ditch. Location of core sample is ITM 525994, 758350. No other context was disturbed. 0.52m of material was recovered.

There are plant remains throughout the core which consisted of modern leaf litter from 0m to 0.1m and quite a bit of plant remains visible from 0.11m to 0.3m. The material below 0.3m was more compact. The core sample was transferred to a sample tube, secured and sealed for transport to the Palaeoenvironmental Research Unit (PRU) at NUI Galway where pollen analysis was undertaken. Eight samples were processed and counted for pollen by Dr. Karen Molloy (see Fig.1). Woody material extracted from the core at a depth between 0.39m and 0.42m was sent for C14 dating (see Fig.2).

School of Geography and Archaeology National University of Ireland, Galway.