Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Bronze Age boat is uncovered"THE village of Netley, in Rathnamaugh, Crossmolina, was the scene of some painstaking work this week as archaeologists toiled to excavate a prehistoric logboat discovered some weeks ago in the area.
The dugout or logboat was stumbled upon in the course of pipe laying works as part of the Ballina Regional Water Scheme being carried out by Ward & Burke. Upon the discovery, on Sean and Aileen Gough’s land in Netley, Mayo County Council enlisted a team of archaeologists to assess and unearth the artefact. Following a visit to the site, The National Museum has expressed significant interest in the find.
Site Director, Ms Joanna Nolan, told the Western People: “The boat dates back to pre-historic times; obviously a tree-trunk boat, it is most likely Bronze Age which would be 3000 years ago”.
Considering the amount of land improvement that has been carried out in the region, this discovery is a fascinating one, with the canoe-like structure clearly some form of wooden boat. The team, which includes archaeologists Gary Burke, Roísín Burke, Eileen Padden, Gerard Mohan, John Kerrigan, Paul Clarke, Oliver Murphy and Michael McTighe under the direction of Joanna Nolan, delicately removed the soil strata by brushing and created a support-system"
Slán
