An archaeologist in Galway, Ireland, discovered a large Bronze Age castle on a limestone table, surrounded by seasonal lakes, in Coole Park, Ireland, earlier this week. According to a TV and radio announcer, RTÉ. The site was known before, but its implications have been called into question until now.
Coole Park, the land on which the castle is located, is currently a nature reserve. The Turlaug, or seasonal lakes, are unique to the regions of Ireland west of the Shannon River.
The fort, which dates from between 800 and 1200 BC, is unique in its use of trees, which would have dried out and filled with water depending on the weather and time of year. These disturbances could have been used strategically as a defense mechanism against outside invaders. At approximately 1,312 by 328 feet, the building could have accommodated a few hundred people at any one time.
Michael Gibbons, who works with the Gaeltacht Education Project Muintearas, has surveyed the area – much of it covered in thick forest. Further research and analysis of LiDAR data from aerial surveys is under review.
“We know that there are many round houses inside, that they work in metal, and that they make high-status artifacts,” explains Gibbons, who hopes the data will reveal Bronze Age round houses within the ramparts.
“Men and women would have put tremendous effort into building it in antiquity,” says Seán Ó Coistealbha, CEO of Muintearas. “We’re just wrapping around the stone walls of this community with a wealth of information yet to be discovered.”
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