Evolution (Biology); Glacial epoch; Human beings -- Origin; Human evolution
One class of these "stockaded islands," as they have been sometimes
called, was formed, according to Mr. Digby Wyatt, by placing horizontal
oak beams at the bottom of the lake, into which oak posts, from 6 to
8 feet high, were mortised, and held together by cross beams, till a
circular enclosure was obtained.
A space of 520 feet diameter, thus enclosed at Lagore, was divided into
sundry timbered compartments, which were found filled up with mud or
earth, from which were taken "vast quantities of the bones of oxen,
swine, deer, goats, sheep, dogs, foxes, horses, and asses." All these
were discovered beneath 16 feet of bog, and were used for manure; but
specimens of them are said to be preserved in the museum of the Royal
Irish Academy. From the same spot were obtained a great collection of
antiquities, which, according to Lord Talbot de Malahide and Mr. Wylie,
were referable to the ages of stone, bronze, and iron.*
(* W.M. Wylie "Archaeologia" volume 38 1859 page 8, who
cites "Archaeological Journal" volume 6 page 101.)
In Ardekillin Lake, in Roscommon, an islet of an oval form was observed,
made of a layer of stones resting on logs of timber. Round this
artificial islet or crannoge thus formed was a stone wall raised on oak
piles. A careful description has been put on record by Captain Mudge,
R.N., of a curious log-cabin discovered by him in 1833 in Drumkellin
bog, in Donegal, at a depth of 14 feet from the surface. It was 12 feet
square and 9 feet high, being divided into two stories each 4 feet high.
The planking was of oak split with wedges of stone, one of which was
found in the building. The roof was flat. A staked enclosure had been
raised round the cabin, and remains of other similar huts adjoining were
seen but not explored. A stone celt, found in the interior of the hut,
and a piece of leather sandal, also an arrow-head of flint, and in the
bog close at hand a wooden sword, give evidence of the remote antiquity
of this building, which may be taken as a type of the early dwellings on
the Crannoge islands.
"The whole structure," says Captain Mudge, "was wrought with the
rudest kind of implements, and the labour bestowed on it must have been
immense. The wood of the mortises was more bruised than cut, as if by a
blunt stone chisel."*
(* Mudge "Archaeologia" volume 26.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account