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globally. Using various dating methods, it has been stated that the creation and development of the Céide Fields went back approximately 5500 years (~3500 BCE), some 2,500 years before this type of field system developed everywhere else in Europe. Other dating methods and research has suggested that
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of habitation sites and tombs revealed the way of life of people living 200 generations earlier. They were a community of farmers who cleared large areas of forest for use as farm land. Their main economy was cattle rearing but among them were also craftspeople and builders in both wood and stone.
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In order to preserve the site and ensure the continuation of research, a simple method was used to explore the sub-bog walls. This involved the location and mapping of these hidden walls by probing with long T-shaped iron rods. (These were locally available as they were traditionally used to probe
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and to provide building material and firewood. Palaeoecological research published in 1995 and 2001 indicated that the woodland cleared by the farmers was primarily pine and birch, and was cleared to create pasture for livestock. This clearance continued onward and outward away from the area in
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for fuel. Caulfield noted that the rocks must have been placed there by people, because their configuration was apparently unnatural and deliberate. The rocks were also positioned beneath the
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The discovery of the Céide Fields originally began in the 1930s when a schoolteacher, Patrick
Caulfield, noticed linear piles of rocks which were uncovered as he cut away some
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The climate at the time was much warmer, leading to almost year-round growth potential. Samples taken from the remains of trees found in the bog provided evidence of this.
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For a while, these people prospered, but some changes led to the development of raised bogs and the transformation of the arable land into barren and unusable land. An
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85:'s tentative list to gain World Heritage status. There is estimated to be more than 100 km (62 mi) of field enclosure stone walls hidden beneath the
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Whitefield, Andrew (2017). "Neolithic 'Celtic' Fields? A Reinterpretation of the
Chronological Evidence from Céide Fields in North-western Ireland".
552:"Palaeoecological Investigations towards the Reconstruction of Environment and Land-use Changes during Prehistory at Céide Fields, Western Ireland"
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The unravelling of the significance of this discovery did not begin for another forty years when
Patrick's son, Seamus, having studied
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The stone-walled fields, extending over hundreds of hectares, are the oldest known globally, dating back almost 6,000 years
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It was discovered that these people arrived in a land with substantial forest cover. This was cleared to provide access to
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Seamus
Caulfied has estimated that there is more than 100 km (62 mi) of stone wall hidden beneath the bog.
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514:"A palynological and geoarchaeological investigation into Bronze Age farming at Belderg Beg, Co. Mayo, Ireland"
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While research by
Caulfield and other archaeologists has dated the Céide Fields complex to the Neolithic (
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O'Connell, M; Molloy, K (2001). "Farming and
Woodland Dynamics in Ireland during the Neolithic".
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the complex developed 3,000 years ago, and is otherwise a "textbook example" of a
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474:"14C Dating of a Neolithic Field System at Céide Fields, County Mayo, Ireland"
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Biology and
Environment: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy
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Caulfield, Seamus; O'Donnell, R. G.; Mitchell, P. I. (1998).
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system, several examples of which are associated with late
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site in
Ireland and is claimed to contain the oldest known
421:"The Céide Fields: a Mayo miracle older than the pyramids"
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for prehistoric fallen timber below the bog.) The ensuing
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580:(101B). Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy: 99–128.
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168:Map of the Céide Fields archaeological site
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512:Verrill, Lucy; Tipping, Richard (2010).
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161:continuing procurement of firewood.
707:Archaeological sites in County Mayo
183:over the area of the Céide Fields.
120:over the course of many centuries.
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692:Former populated places in Ireland
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518:Journal of Archaeological Science
449:. Museums of Mayo. Archived from
309:. Museums of Mayo. Archived from
626:Céide Fields at Heritage Ireland
550:Molloy, K; O'Connell, M (1995).
227:. Placenames Database of Ireland
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682:4th-millennium BC architecture
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307:"Céide Fields Visitor Centre"
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427:. Irish Times. 5 August 2017
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143:Céide Fields visitor centre
116:concealed by the growth of
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247:"A Pompeii in Slow Motion"
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530:10.1016/j.jas.2009.12.020
491:10.1017/S0033822200018567
447:"History of Céide Fields"
135:Research and preservation
687:Geography of County Mayo
281:. Office of Public Works
697:Museums in County Mayo
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621:Céide Fields web site
179:has developed in the
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45:coast in the west of
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650:54.30500°N 9.45694°W
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64:Celtic field
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535:7 September
497:8 September
478:Radiocarbon
457:25 February
431:7 September
396:7 September
358:10379/16071
285:7 September
158:arable land
110:archaeology
51:Ballycastle
43:County Mayo
676:Categories
659: (
637:54°18′18″N
317:3 February
225:logainm.ie
207:References
150:excavation
129:Bronze Age
68:Bronze Age
640:9°27′25″W
367:165114322
201:Kilcommon
125:Stone Age
55:Neolithic
586:20500109
392:. UNESCO
190:See also
131:) date.
87:peat bog
72:Iron Age
196:Lynchet
181:subsoil
177:ironpan
93:History
47:Ireland
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83:UNESCO
582:JSTOR
555:(PDF)
363:S2CID
35:Irish
578:101B
537:2021
499:2021
459:2007
433:2021
398:2021
319:2009
287:2021
261:2010
233:2010
99:peat
70:and
29:The
604:BBC
526:doi
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353:hdl
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103:bog
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
