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gjrk wrote:
Wonderful, comprehensive book on the archaeology of one part of Southwest Ireland. Contains, inter alia, an excavation report and dating evidence for a Cork stone pair.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Local-Worlds-Settlement-Landscapes-South-west/dp/1848890214/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264945170&sr=1-1

Any chance of a name and date for the pair Gordon ?

Will do :) The book's at home so I'll sort it out tonight. Should qualify though; the dates were obtained from bone in an adjacent pit and charcoal, also from an adjacent event, rather than the stone erection, although O'Brien considered them to be contemporaneous.

Here we go:

V (I think) 67623 52123, Barrees (Valley)

Charcoal from fire event adjacent to SW stone; 1090-900 BC (95.4%)

Bone from cremation deposit next to NE stone; 1260-980 BC (95.4%)

More info:

http://www.excavations.ie/Pages/Details.php?Year=&County=Cork&id=9509

"...The excavation of two monoliths, set c. 1m apart on an east–west alignment, took place at Site H. The western stone, measuring 0.98m by 0.56m, stands to its original height of 1.4m above the socket. The eastern example (1.86m by 0.48m) was lying in a recumbent position, having fallen at some stage due to water erosion along this hill slope. Both stones were originally set upright in shallow subsoil pits and held in position with large packing stones. Three small boulders of white quartz had been deliberately placed next to this monolith. Investigation of the fallen eastern stone revealed a stone-lined socket at the western end. A deliberate deposit of white quartz pebbles, overlain by a small slab, sealed a small adjacent pit containing cremated bone and charcoal. A second deposit of cremated bone and charcoal was uncovered on the western side of this socket. Charcoal indicating a fire (or fires) adjacent to the western stone is radiocarbon dated to 2830±30 BP (GrN-28306). This suggests activity here in the Late Bronze Age. Dating of the associated burials must await radiocarbon analysis of the cremated bone. Following excavation, the eastern monolith was re-erected in its original socket position.
William O’Brien, Department of Archaeology, NUI, Galway."