Submerged Mesolithic Landscape Investigation, Eleven Ballyboes, Republic of Ireland

Abstract

This paper reports on the first systematic attempt to conduct archaeological survey and excavation for submerged prehistory on the island of Ireland. Fieldwork was conducted in two small bays where Early Mesolithic flint artefacts washed ashore hinted at the presence of a submerged assemblage. Methods employed include non-intrusive survey, hand coring and excavation. Together, these allowed identification of the artefact source, albeit reworked, in one bay and an early Holocene peat in the other. Though the subtidal assemblage is reworked and relatively small, it is significant in an Irish context and more widely illustrates the potential preservation of prehistoric sites and palaeo-landscapes in high-energy settings.