William O'Brien
Abstract
Cork is one of the richest archaeological landscapes in Ireland, with many thousands of recorded monuments and artifacts from the pre-Christian era. This book is the first general study of the prehistory of the county. It examines the archaeology of some 8000 years of human life, dating from the end of the Ice Age some ten thousand years ago. Most of this long period belongs to prehistory, the time before written records, which ended with the arrival of Christian literacy from the fifth century AD. The earliest known people in the Cork region were small bands of foragers of the Mesolithic age (c.7500–4000 BC). They spread into the south-west region as part of the human colonization of Ireland at the end of the Ice Age. The arrival of new groups in the Neolithic period (4000–2500 BC) introduced the farming way of life, which in time would transform the landscape of Cork. By 2500 BC these farmers had acquired the use of metal and had adopted an international style of pottery called Beaker. This laid the foundations for the Bronze Age (2000–600 BC), an important time for the Cork region when a strong indigenous society developed during sustained population growth and agricultural expansion. This was followed by the Iron Age (600 BC–AD 400), marked by contacts established with iron-using Celtic people on the Continent. Iron Age communities in Cork had only slight contact with the Roman Empire in the early centuries AD, yet these contributed to the adoption of the Ogham script and, in time, would lead to the Christian conversion of the region. This book presents a broad overview of major developments in human society in the region during the prehistoric period. The reader is introduced to the most important ancient sites and monument, as well as the results of many important excavations undertaken by archaeologists. The most important prehistoric artifact finds from county are considered. Readers will gain a major insight into the early story of Cork, as well as a greater appreciation of the cultural landscape heritage of the county and the archaeology of their own home areas.
