Resurfacing after 4,000 years!

Written by Ben Kesp 

Specialist archaeological conservator Susannah Kelly wraps the urn in bandages to protect it for its removal: Source RTE News. 

A small town on the very north western corner of Ireland has turned up a treasure that has not seen the light of day with four thousand years. A recent dig on the construction site of a new community hospital in the town of Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal has unearthed a bronze burial urn, just one of a number of recent finds. The burial urn was found in small ring ditch and needed the expertise of specialist in archaeological conservation to remove it from its position where it has been taken to Dublin for conservation. 

Ballyshannon has a long history dating back to the Neolithic Period (4,000BC – 2500 BC) and many archaeological sites have been excavated in the area, like burnt mounds (fulachta fiadh) from 2,500 – 500 BC, medieval church and cemetery, and coins from the era of King Henry III (1251 – 1276) and Kind Edward (1280 – 1302). This shows the long history of human inhabitation and ritual activity occurring in the area and the recent finds from the bronze age are adding to the diversity of human activity. 

To read more on the recent discovery, check out the following link from RTE, Ireland’s national broadcaster. 

Bronze Age urn unearthed in Donegal after 4,000 years