<< News >> Ancient fort is found
Submitted by coldrum on Tuesday, 09 August 2005 Page Views: 3123
Iron Age and Later PrehistoryCountry: Ireland (Northern) County: Co. Derry Type: Souterrain (Fogou, Earth House)Internal Links:
Expectations are high that Ireland's largest Rath, an ancient fort, has been uncovered outside Londonderry. Archaeologists unexpectedly unearthed the 100m diameter ringfort, or Rath, while searching in Newbuildings for a souterrian - an underground tunnel used by natives to hide from invading Vikings.
Thousands of Raths exist in Ireland dating from early Christian times, the most famous being the Hill of Tara in Co Meath.
A piece of land was surrounded by a series of ditches which were dug up to 7m deep with the excavated earth piled up behind them to form a defensive bank, creating a fortified living area for both people and livestock.
The ditches were a formidable means of defence and required the movement of many thousands of tonnes of earth to complete them.
Archaeologist Chris Long, who is working with the local historical society, said the potentially record- breaking discovery was "huge by Rath standards".
"Most Raths would be about 35m in diameter but from what we've uncovered it looks like this one could be up to 100m and is between 1,000 and 1,500 years old," he added. "There is quite a lot I know about a souterrain in this area but nothing about a Rath, however, it is not uncommon to find the two together."
Source: Belfast Telegraph
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