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Bronze Age Settlement
By Sean Beattie
| About two miles away from the Temple of Deen,
an ancient field system has been discovered beneath the bogland
together with remains of stone houses and communal eating places.
A metre beneath a layer of peat, the shinning white stones of
prehistoric walls have been revealed by turf cutters in 1980.
The stone walls are part of small field enclosures used to contain
domestic animals or to protect the small quantities of corn
that were grown. The three monuments form an interesting Bronze
Age Triangle, which is evidence of an important Bronze Age settlement.
The collective date tells us more about the lives of the earliest
settlers, how they farmed, how they lived, their mode of worship
and how they coped with death. |
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Around the area of the standing stone are raised
circular ridges part of which have been destroyed. They form
part of circular enclosures that were very common in prehistoric
times; they were used for defense and also for securing the
settlement. They have survived into modern times because they
were usually regarded as fairy raths and it was a tradition
not to disturb the fairy world. Stones with irregular markings
have also been found on this site. These have now been identified
as examples of Rock Art. Early prehistoric settlers used sharp
flints to engrave these designs on stones around the settlement
to ward off evil spirits. |
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