Macrofossils of profile BHY_III

The sampling sites BHY III–VI are from within the stone wall field system that is covered by blanket bog. BHY III is from ca. 65 m west of Behy Court Tomb. There was fairly active peat cutting locally, but on a rather small scale prior to time of sampling (1992). There has been turf cutting since, especially immediately to the west of this site. A monolith was removed as follows: 71 cm long (11 cm of mineral soil; 61 cm of overlying peat; total depth of peat, adjusted for shrinkage, at sampling point (TDP): 130 cm]. This was taken from long turf bank where there was a wide cutting (ca. 30 m to next bank of turf to the east). At 30 cm from the sampling point, a flat pine timber (1x6 cm; probably a root) partly projected from the base of the turf bank. The wood rested on 10-15 cm of peat and its outer surface was burned. No other pine stumps were noted in the long bank of turf but there are pine stumps in the general area. A few metres to south of sampling location, there is a substantial stone cross-wall of a pre-bog field. The pollen and macrofossil investigations were carried out by Karen Molloy. LOI and tephra investigations were also carried out. BHY III is the only profile of BHY series in which no tephra was recorded. The age/depth curve (obtained using Clam v. 2.2; details are provided) for BHY III is a smooth spline curve (smooth factor = 0.3) that is based on five of the available seven 14C dates. The 14C dates 3360±50 BP (Gd-7147) and 3290±60 BP (Gd-7148) (both relate to peat from -6 to -7 cm) (both dates regarded as unreliable) were not included in the analysis. A distinct 'pine flush' is recorded at the base. The age/depth model indicates that this dates to ca. 2600 BC which, based on other dates relating to pine in the region, is probably at least two centuries too young (O'Connell et al. 2019). A pronounced Betula to Poaceae switch occurs at ca. 1500 BC. These investigations relating to Céide Fields were carried out in PRU, NUIG, part-funded by The Heritage Council (of Ireland). The aim was to provide an environmental context for the establishment and use of the prehistoric stone-wall field system, and an overall chronological framework and an environmental history of the area.