STONE AGE TSUNAMI KILLED ANCIENT IRISH; Wave may have wiped out first humans.
Byline: ANDREW HAMILTONA GIANT Stone Age tsunami may have wiped out the first tribes of Irish people.
Archaeologists in the Burren in Co Clare have unearthed one of the oldest records of human life ever found in Ireland.
Radiocarbon dating of a shellfish cooking area or "midden" located on Fanore Beach have revealed it to be at least 6,000 years old - hundreds of years older than the nearby Poulnabrone dolmen.
Excavation on the site has also revealed a mysterious black layer of organic material which archeologists believe may be the results of a Stone Age tsunami which bashed the West Clare coast.
This substance, which is two or three inches deep, disintegrates when it comes in contact with air.
A large slab of this material has remained intact on an ancient settlement and indicates a large amount of it was laid down at once, possibly as the result of a tsunami.
Field monument advisor for Co Clare Michael Lynch said: "If we can establish a date for this material it will help us to piece together more of the mystery of this site.
"It could also tell us a bit about what happened here that brought the use of the We midden to an end.
"It is possible this is the result of a major climatic event, a massive storm or possibly a tsunami, or some other major event of that sort which would have thrown up a large amount of debris all at the one time."
The midden, which is a cooking area where nomadic hunter-gatherers boiled or roasted shellfish, contained Stone Age implements including two axes and a number of smaller stone tools.
It was discovered by local woman Elaine O'Malley in 2009 and a major excavation of the site is currently being led by Mr Lynch. He said: "This is the oldest settlement in Clare.
"We have always thought hunter gatherers existed in Clare but this is the first real evidence of that.
"These people were pre-farming. Farming would have been introduced a few generations later. They would have come to have certain places at a certain times of the year.
"Obviously they came here to eat shellfish, but they possibly had another place beside a river nearby when they wanted to catch salmon and trout and other times they would collect things like hazelnuts.
"We know they were cooking and eating shellfish here but we don't know yet exactly what method they were using to cook it.
"So hopefully that is one of the things we can uncover in the weeks ahead."
CAPTION(S):
PAINSTAKING nWorkers sift through boxes of sand MIDDEN n EARTH Experts dig at the cooking area WATER DISASTER 6,000 yearold site may have been destroyed by giant wave
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| Publication: | The Mirror (London, England) |
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| Date: | May 9, 2012 |
| Words: | 459 |
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