Crannógs in Lough Gara

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lough Gara
Schematic reconstruction of a Crannóg

The Crannógs in Lough Gara were discovered at low tide in 1952. The Lough Gara ( Irish Loch Uí Ghadhra - formerly called Loch Techet) is located near Monasteraden, about eight kilometers southeast of Gorteen , on the eastern edge of County Sligo in Ireland . The O'Garas, who had owned the Coolavin district since the 13th century, renamed the lake "Loch Uí Ghadhra". The first documentary mention comes from 1285.

It is known for its high number of crannógs . The estimates are between 145 and 369. Some crannógs in Lough Gara have been excavated. Solid pewter bracelets were found on one of them, a valuable metal in the Bronze Age. The Crannógs in Lough Gara date from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age . In Ireland, crannógs were partially used until the Middle Ages .

At the bottom of the lake, the remains of 31 dugout canoes were found, which were used to access the Crannógs. When the wooden boats were scrapped, they found their way into the material from which the Crannógs were built.

Evidence of Iron Age activities is the discovery of the bog body of a woman at the age of 25, which was found next to the lake in 1959 in Derrymaquirk Townland, County Roscommon . The body was carbonized between 750 and 200 BC. BC, dated to the Iron Age. The skeletonized woman was found lying on her back with the fragments of an infant's bone near her body. Pieces of wood and animal bones were also found in the grave. It is believed that she was formally buried. Further evidence of Iron Age activities is a La Tene sword found in the Cashel townland north of the lake.

literature

  • Christina Fredengran: Crannogs, A Study of People's Interaction With Lakes, With Particular Reference to Lough Gara in the North-West of Ireland . In: Archeology Ireland (Volume 14, No. 2, Issue 52, 2000).
  • Christina Fredengran: Lough Gara through time . Arxchaeology Ireland 12 (1) 1989 pp. 31-33
  • Aidan O'Sullivan: Crannogs, Lake-dwellings of early Ireland , Country House, Dublin 2000, ISBN 1-86059-091-8 .
  • Aidan O'Sullivan: Crannogs in early medieval Ireland , Four Courts, Dublin, 2005, ISBN 1-85182-927-X .

Web links

Coordinates: 53 ° 56 ′ 37 "  N , 8 ° 26 ′ 53.5"  W.