Re: Souterrains and dates | Forum — The Modern Antiquarian

FourWinds Oct 8, 2007 17:04:18

Replying to tiompan

tiompan wrote:

Little doubt that the majority are IA but they certainly went in for re-use of marked rocks , more usually N-EBA rather than Roman though .

Obviously there's a dought of re-used Roman stones in Irish souterrains, but it's common to find either ogham stones or RA re-used in them.

A lot of the Irish ones are supposed to date from the early Christian period, built in response to Norse raids. I'm not so sure myself. The largest concentration seems to be around the Armagh/Lough/Down border region and down into mid-Louth. These areas are away from major waterways that you'd expect the Norse chappies to travel along. Obviously, they could have come storming across the land, but it's more likely that they were built by one kingdom in particular in response to attacks from others (I think). The more limited use in other areas that were definitely attacked regularly by the Norsemmen.

All the above could be bollocks of course. There's a great book on Irish souterrains that I think is now out of print. Always regret not buying it when it was first published.

FourWinds Oct 8, 2007 17:06:04

Replying to FourWinds

The book was written by Mark Clinton and published by Wordwell in 2001. Amazon have a few listed starting at $96 !!!!

tiompan Oct 8, 2007 18:32:14

Replying to FourWinds

FourWinds wrote:

tiompan wrote:

Little doubt that the majority are IA but they certainly went in for re-use of marked rocks , more usually N-EBA rather than Roman though .

Obviously there's a dought of re-used Roman stones in Irish souterrains, but it's common to find either ogham stones or RA re-used in them.

Ian Armit has suggested that the abandonment of souterrains in Scotland ,which happened over a short period ,was linked to changes in Roman frontier policy , but the interesting feature of the abandonment is the destruction , use of fire and infilling that went with it .The infilling often consisted of RA , roman stuff,querns and moulds . As the the use of the buildings associated with them continued and there was no incursions it looks like it was a "ritual " destruction too . Just as US air base abandonment spelt financial disaster for villages after the peace dividend likewise the Romans going home gubbed the profiteering grain merchants of the IA . Written in 1999 the influence is obvious but likely ? Certainly not applicable to Ireland.