Archaeologists working along the route of Cork’s new motorway have discovered nearly 6,000-year-old early Neolithic farmers’ dwellings, evidence of Bronze Age cremation, and ‘Cork’s oldest roadside service’. We have unearthed a wealth of history, including what it is called. station. ‘
In total, up to 50 archaeologists employed by Specialist Rubicon will work along the 12.5km M28 route corridor between Bloomfield Interchange (M40) and Ringaskiddy, uncovering an astonishing 50,000 linear meters at 38 different locations. We dug an archaeological test trench.
Ken Hanley, who is leading the investigation for Cork County Council and TII (Transport Infrastructure Ireland), said archaeologists had so far excavated around 102,000 square meters of ground.
He said the oldest find was the remains of an early Neolithic dwelling built around 5,700 years ago, excavated at Ballyhemiken in Lougheen Quarry, between Shannon Park roundabout and Chambally village, east of Carrigaline. It is said that
It was probably the home of the first farmers to settle in the area.
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“It was one house, but there could be many more in a larger area,” Hanley said.
“These were owned by the first farming communities that came to this country from continental Europe. Before that, Ireland was inhabited by nomadic hunter-gatherer societies.
“This is the ninth similar house from the period discovered in County Cork, all of which were excavated during road planning.The people who lived in this house grazed livestock and grew crops. ,” Hanley said.
A Bronze Age (c. 2,200-800 BC) crematorium was discovered in the town area of Loughbeg and Carrigaline Middle, near Ballyhemiken, Ringaskiddy.
Mr Hanley said there was evidence that one was an organized cemetery, where ashes were covered with pottery (urns) in stone-lined pits to provide sustenance for the dead after death. It is said that utensils for giving food were left nearby.
Remains of Bronze Age houses have also been discovered at Loughen and Burnaheely, the latter to the south of the traffic lights near the main terminal entrance to Cork Harbour.
Meanwhile, Mr Hanley said early medieval settlements had also been discovered in Ballinrea and Burnaghelly, with the latter consisting of multiple enclosures.
“These date from around the 8th century and probably belonged to prominent clans in the area before the arrival of the Anglo-Normans,” he says.
Mr Hanley said the roadside excavation just west of Shannon Park roundabout could become “Cork’s first road service station”.
This appears to have been an iron merchant, providing transport and necessary facilities for local residents passing between Cork city and the Carrigaline/Ringaskiddy area and vice versa.
According to Hanley, this was a large forge built in the 17th century that not only provided services such as repairing transport carts and horseshoes to passing merchants, but also repaired household items for local residents. That’s what it means.
At the time, Ringaskiddy is thought to have been a small fishing port, very different from the large industrialized port area it is today.
The latest discovery was an enclosure believed to be a late medieval (late 13th or late 14th century AD) settlement found in the town of Ballinimra.
“The site continued to be occupied as a small farm until the 17th century, but a 1642 deposition by William Green of Ballynimlag records that the Catholic rebels took over a total of 20 Pound 18 shillings,” said Mr Hanley.
He said the excavation was “very productive from an archaeological point of view” and that further research with radiocarbon dating would be carried out in the next four to six months to pinpoint the exact date of the discovery. He said it was planned to take place.