{"id":569275,"date":"2026-07-26T18:06:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T18:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/569275\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T18:06:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T18:06:13","slug":"archaeologists-discover-and-rediscover-two-neolithic-tombs-in-galway-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/569275\/","title":{"rendered":"Archaeologists discover and \u2018rediscover\u2019 two neolithic tombs in Galway \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Archaeologists have located a previously unidentified Neolithic tomb and \u201crediscovered\u201d a second previously lost site during excavations at a prehistoric site in Co Galway<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The discoveries reveal new evidence about the earliest farming communities in the west of Ireland.<\/p>\n

Led by Michelle Comber and Noel McCarthy at the University of Galway<\/a>, the excavation in the Maree area has revealed two different types of megalithic tombs dating back almost 6,000 years.<\/p>\n

Researchers believe the site represents the only known example in Ireland where a court tomb and a portal tomb are found together, offering important new evidence about the people who built them during the early Neolithic period \u2013 the first farmers in this part of the world.<\/p>\n

Court tombs were burial monuments with an open area or \u201ccourt\u201d for ritual and ceremonial activities, while portal tombs were stone-built burial chambers marked by a large capstone.<\/p>\n

The discovery of these two monument types side by side provides an opportunity to examine different approaches to burial, ritual and monument building in the Ireland of the Stone Age.<\/p>\n

\"AnAn amethyst pendant uncovered during University of Galway archaeological excavations. Photograph: Michelle Comber <\/p>\n

Comber, a lecturer in archaeology at the University of Galway<\/a>, said: \u201cThe chance to find and excavate sites like these within the area of our larger research project provides a golden opportunity to locate \u2013 and attempt to understand \u2013 the first farmers of this place.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThe size and scale of the tombs, and the effort required to construct them, reflect a sizeable community living in and farming this part of coastal Galway. Their location right next to each other represents a meeting of two traditions, raising new questions about the nature of that interactions,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

McCarthy, who also lectures in archaeology at the university, said \u201cthe opportunity to investigate a site like this is not something that occurs very often. Discovering the second monument has added a layer of complexity that informs our understanding of culture and society in the Neolithic period and beyond\u201d. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe excavation site at Prospecthill, Co Galway, with the portal tomb capstone in the foreground and the outline of the court tomb behind. Photograph: Andrew Downes \"ExcavationExcavation at Prospecthill megalithic tombs, Co Galway. Photograph: Andrew Downes <\/p>\n

Once thought to have been completely destroyed, the court tomb at Prospecthill, Maree, is one of the largest discovered, at about 30m in length.<\/p>\n

Beside it, and previously unrecorded as a burial monument, the remains of a large portal tomb have also been discovered. Its impressive capstone measures almost 4m in length, weighing an estimated 14 tonnes.<\/p>\n

Archaeologists on the site also identified a large bedrock pit in which the portal tomb was originally constructed. This enabled the exceptional preservation of the original burial deposits, providing a rare opportunity to investigate evidence from the monument\u2019s earliest use, offering fresh insights into how the communities honoured and buried their dead.<\/p>\n

The excavation uncovered stone tools, prehistoric pottery and cremated bone, including a small amethyst pendant from the portal tomb. While quartz beads are known from a few megalithic sites, nothing like the amethyst pendant is known from anywhere in Ireland.<\/p>\n

Both tomb types are dated to the early Neolithic period.<\/p>\n

The latest discoveries build on the project\u2019s first excavation season in 2025, when archaeologists confirmed Rathgurreen Ringfort as a high-status early medieval settlement<\/a> occupied by rulers and nobles. That excavation uncovered links to trade and contact extending to Rome, Scotland, France and Scandinavia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Archaeologists have located a previously unidentified Neolithic tomb and \u201crediscovered\u201d a second previously lost site during excavations at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":569276,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43,5761],"class_list":["post-569275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-university-of-galway"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=569275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/569276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}