An extraordinary discovery made in Ireland's County Kerry this month has made worldwide headlines. An ancient tomb thought to date back further than the Bronze Age was found by a farmer offering an unbelievable look into the past.
The Dingle peninsula is known for it’s massively important historical richness and is one of Ireland’s most stunning destinations of archaeological importance. The possible Bronze Age tomb was discovered when a digger uncovered a chamber lined with slabs beneath a slab stone with a stone sub-chamber adjoining it.
The Bronze age was a time of huge creativity in Ireland. During the Early Bronze Age in Ireland goldsmiths were a real focus and around 1200BC new gold working techniques were developed. During this time a great variety of torcs were made by twisting bars or strips of gold. These torcs are a theme in some of the selection of jewelry in the Rings from Ireland collection of Irish and Celtic jewelry.
RTÉ News reported that the archaeologists have described the tomb as being ‘highly unusual’ and ‘untouched’ and there were also remains of human bones found. It is thought by National Monuments Service archaeologists that the tomb may date back as far as 2000BC and 500BC or may even predate this.
Staff from the National Monuments Service and the National Museum of Ireland have joined forces to examine the tomb and have decided not to reveal its exact location to ensure its safety.
An archaeologist based on the Dingle peninsula Mícheál Ó Coileán described it as ‘a highly significant and unusual find’. He said that “Given its location, orientation, and the existence of the large slab, your initial thought is this is a Bronze Age tomb. But the design of this particular tomb is not like any of the other Bronze Age burial sites we have here. This is a highly unusual tomb. It’s possible that it’s earlier, but it’s very difficult at this early stage to date it.”
He continued: “It is an extremely significant find as the original structure has been preserved and not interfered with, as may have occurred in the case of other uncovered tombs”.