Thread for CFH/BoxingGorilla/Bilbo and any others

I know some of you guys have an infatuation with history and/or tribal warfare etc.
But this is just a project I've been working on that uncovered some of my Celtic heritage and is quite remarkable. If I didn't show you these, you would NOT see them, so don't tell anyone I told you guys!!!

The project was an extension of the N18 road between Oranmore and Gort, in Galway Ireland. The site location is Owen Bristy.
The location of note is beside a stream and apperas to be an old man made land structure.

An investigation was necessitated because all new Civil projects are required by law to be mindful of areas of Archaeological importance.

Upon the arrival of the Archaeologist, the site showed characteristics of a Celtic Burial Site and an Investigation began.

Jerry O' Sullivan the NRA Archaeologist was in charge of proceedings.

(Please note, I'm not in the pictures!)
What was uncovered was not only well preserved it was also a first.

The skeletal remains of a woman from the period AD 600-1000, known in Ireland as the age of Saints and Scholars.
Remarkably she was found to be wearing an iron slave collar.
Slave collars have been found in Crannogs at Lagore Royal Crannog in Meath, but never has one been found on the body of the deceased.

It is believed that most slaves were released just before or after death, but this slave was evidently sent to her grave an oppressed slave.

Finally just a close up of the cranium and of course the iron collar

Cool, you actually been out there working then Donny?

What a horrible world that must have been back then to be a slave, forced to wear an iron collar.

I'm working on the Quantity Surveying team, so I was out on site when it was just greenfields.
When the feedback came back about the discovery the price obviously escalated, but I haven't been on site.
I will visit though as it's only 5-6 miles from my home.

That is so cool!

Someday soon (relatively speaking) I hope to be working on sites like that. I don't know a ton about Celtic archaeology, but the small amount I do know is fascinating. I remember learn about Maiden Castle, and how one of the archaeologists was able to reconstruct portion of a battle that took place there. There are a few really neat Native defensive sites in the city where I live, they haven't been excavated or anything, but they're well documented and if you know what you're looking for you can see them.

This may sound slightly morbid, but I'd love to take a closer look at the skeleton. I wonder if that massive hole in the side of the skull caused her death or if it was a postmortem injury.

I'll try and post some pics of the site I'll be working on over the summer when I get back, provided the Band whose land it is gives me permission.

One thing I found really interesting in your post is that you mention that the land value went up, the exact opposite would be true here most of the time. Here, if a site/feature/tiny artifact is found on a property, the cost of excavation etc. falls on the land owner. They're legally obligated to report such things, but most often they do not because of the associated expenses. Stiff penalties are supposed to occur, but they never happen. The town I live in is built on top of hundreds of sites, but no one really gives a shit. I think that this is probably due to the fact that the sites are Native, and thus of little interest to us white people. There are places in Oak Bay, a rich, snobby, old-money sort of place where people have literally used the stones from Native burial cairns to line their driveways... I'll stop ranting now.

Thanks for posting these Donny.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CFH

That is so cool!

Someday soon (relatively speaking) I hope to be working on sites like that. I don't know a ton about Celtic archaeology, but the small amount I do know is fascinating. I remember learn about Maiden Castle, and how one of the archaeologists was able to reconstruct portion of a battle that took place there. There are a few really neat Native defensive sites in the city where I live, they haven't been excavated or anything, but they're well documented and if you know what you're looking for you can see them.

This may sound slightly morbid, but I'd love to take a closer look at the skeleton. I wonder if that massive hole in the side of the skull caused her death or if it was a postmortem injury.

I'll try and post some pics of the site I'll be working on over the summer when I get back, provided the Band whose land it is gives me permission.

One thing I found really interesting in your post is that you mention that the land value went up, the exact opposite would be true here most of the time. Here, if a site/feature/tiny artifact is found on a property, the cost of excavation etc. falls on the land owner. They're legally obligated to report such things, but most often they do not because of the associated expenses. Stiff penalties are supposed to occur, but they never happen. The town I live in is built on top of hundreds of sites, but no one really gives a shit. I think that this is probably due to the fact that the sites are Native, and thus of little interest to us white people. There are places in Oak Bay, a rich, snobby, old-money sort of place where people have literally used the stones from Native burial cairns to line their driveways... I'll stop ranting now.

Thanks for posting these Donny.

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No bother mate.

I love a bit of history, I'll actually try grab some more now.

In my area there are dozens of remaining crannogs, brilliant stuff!

I came across another archaeological find over the weekend.

The find occured when a hill was being excavated. As the hill was being excavated, the team uncovered what appeared to be a body standing up.
The initial investigation was launched so as to ascertain why a body was buried in a standing position and it was thought that some Celtic soldiers were buried standing to attention.

However a carbon test revealed the remains to be a lot older and revealed their own story.

The remains arethought to be that off the original Irish people. A mysterious race that little is known about. They either integrated with the Celts or we're exterminated thousands of years ago.
They came ito conflict with the arriving Celts and as the Celts were more aggressive or war competent, they were forced to live on the backfoot.

In this particular scenario, the remains are supposed to be that of a man who dug a small tunnel into the side of the hill (maybe twelve feet in. He then made a chamber in which he could stand and dwell for a short period of time. He would reside here while being chased and attempt to draw his pursuers into the cavern. As they would follow him crawling he would then stab them in the neck as the crawled into the cavern which he would have entered earlier.
IUt is supposed that this man was either suffocated through the use of smoke or the entrance was blocked, serving him a torturous death.
Lovely.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hitmandonny

I came across another archaeological find over the weekend.

The find occured when a hill was being excavated. As the hill was being excavated, the team uncovered what appeared to be a body standing up.
The initial investigation was launched so as to ascertain why a body was buried in a standing position and it was thought that some Celtic soldiers were buried standing to attention.

However a carbon test revealed the remains to be a lot older and revealed their own story.

The remains arethought to be that off the original Irish people. A mysterious race that little is known about. They either integrated with the Celts or we're exterminated thousands of years ago.
They came ito conflict with the arriving Celts and as the Celts were more aggressive or war competent, they were forced to live on the backfoot.

In this particular scenario, the remains are supposed to be that of a man who dug a small tunnel into the side of the hill (maybe twelve feet in. He then made a chamber in which he could stand and dwell for a short period of time. He would reside here while being chased and attempt to draw his pursuers into the cavern. As they would follow him crawling he would then stab them in the neck as the crawled into the cavern which he would have entered earlier.
IUt is supposed that this man was either suffocated through the use of smoke or the entrance was blocked, serving him a torturous death.
Lovely.

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Did they describe the evidence that lead them to this conclusion?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CFH

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hitmandonny

I came across another archaeological find over the weekend.

The find occured when a hill was being excavated. As the hill was being excavated, the team uncovered what appeared to be a body standing up.
The initial investigation was launched so as to ascertain why a body was buried in a standing position and it was thought that some Celtic soldiers were buried standing to attention.

However a carbon test revealed the remains to be a lot older and revealed their own story.

The remains arethought to be that off the original Irish people. A mysterious race that little is known about. They either integrated with the Celts or we're exterminated thousands of years ago.
They came ito conflict with the arriving Celts and as the Celts were more aggressive or war competent, they were forced to live on the backfoot.

In this particular scenario, the remains are supposed to be that of a man who dug a small tunnel into the side of the hill (maybe twelve feet in. He then made a chamber in which he could stand and dwell for a short period of time. He would reside here while being chased and attempt to draw his pursuers into the cavern. As they would follow him crawling he would then stab them in the neck as the crawled into the cavern which he would have entered earlier.
IUt is supposed that this man was either suffocated through the use of smoke or the entrance was blocked, serving him a torturous death.
Lovely.

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Did they describe the evidence that lead them to this conclusion?

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Carbon dating...to confirm timescale obviously.
I think bone fragments were taken and found to differ from typical Celtic makeup, decisively proving that it was of the ancient Irish.
Irish Folklore gave mention of men disappering into hills, I believe there were similar cases in Meath...

After that I'm afraid I'm unsure

Cool stuff.. Makes me miss having the Discovery/History channels :(

I love absorbing a good history documentary every now and then...

My favourites are definetely the ones regarding old civilizations... Insane stuff they built back then... I would love to be able to travel back to those days and discover how they built some of their structures, and what knowledge they had.. It's truely amazing and awe inspiring what was done by the supposably "primitive" people.... Some things border on unexplainable even by todays technologies... Some things they built, would today cost billions and billions of dollars and take 100's of years, and we would NEED some of our most advanced and gigantic machinery just to complete the task... They did it all by hand with supposably limited or no technology or knowledge..

Simply amazing...

I too really like the History channels, but with my lifestyle, I never get to sit down!

I'm particularly interested in the Aztec, Celtic and Greek/Roman empires.

Wow! that is insane...

Good stuff guys really enjoyed reading that.

:peepingtom: