Creating space thoughts on place making & clustered house remains in Prehistoric Ireland
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 10/10/2018

The extensive and densely clustered group of round-house foundations on the cliff faced plateau at Mullaghfarna, Co. Sligo occupies a unique position in Irish Prehistory as an enigmatic, Neolithic/Bronze Age village with few counterparts on the island. Due to its location within the ‘ritual landscape’ of the Neolithic passage tombs complex of Carrowkeel/ Keashcorran, the houses have long been assumed associated with the nearby passage tombs.
The first detailed survey of the site has recently been completed, recording some 165 round ‘house foundations’, 10 enclosures, as well as about 100 auxiliary area/spaces linked to the houses. Trial excavations in three of the houses have returned Neolithic as well as Bronze Age dates.
The house foundations show a wide variation both in size and construction complexity and seem to represent a highly dynamic and intricate use of the very limited space on the dramatic plateau,
Based on this large and tightly clustered group of ‘domestic remains’ this paper will discuss aspects of place making and agglomerated house remains in social and ritual terms; but also the implications of agglomerated settlement patterns in relation to the more traditional distribution of domestic life in the Neolithic/Bronze Age.

Author: Dr Bergh, Stefan - National University of Ireland Galway (Presenting author)