Neolithic and Bronze Age Landscapes of North Mayo: Report 2011

Wild remains
Hazelnut shell fragments dominated the assemblage at Rathlackan, with smaller quantities
of common sorrel, bramble and crab-apple remains also present. Hazelnut remains were
also recorded at Belderg Beg, in addition to knotweed remains.
The predominance of hazelnut shell at Rathlackan is partly due to taphonomic issues,
whereby hazelnut shells are more likely to be preserved when compared with many other
plant categories. Nutshell may have been discarded into fires in order to reduce its mass or
to act as fuel. The robust shells are therefore more likely to be charred and preserved when
compared with plants that are more often eaten raw or boiled, such as vegetables and fruits.
It is therefore likely that the activities at Rathlackan, and indeed Belderg Beg, may have
incorporated a wider range of plants than that represented in the examined deposits. It is
clear, however, that hazelnuts appear to have been available at Rathlackan and Belderg
Beg, providing a seasonally available, highly nutritious foodstuff. Hazelnuts are strongly
associated with prehistoric food procurement strategies in many parts of northern Europe,
including at Irish Neolithic and Bronze Age sites (McComb and Simpson 1999).
The presence of crab-apple remains in what appear to be Late Neolithic (and perhaps
earlier) deposits associated with the tomb at Rathlackan is interesting. Apple endocarp
remains dating to the Late Neolithic have previously been recorded in cremation pits at
Castletown Tara 1, Co. Meath (Elder 2009). In Britain, a number of later Neolithic–earlier
Bronze Age sites have produced crab-apple endocarp fragments, pips and even whole and
half apples, which have sometimes been interpreted as ‘ritual’ deposits (e.g. at Clifton
Quarry, Worcestershire; E. Pearson, pers. comm.). The remains of crab-apple, as well as
hazelnut and bramble, at Rathlackan may represent the remains of meals consumed by the
living during burial ceremonies, or may have been deliberately placed into deposits at the
court tomb in order to accompany or represent the dead. The presence of charcoal from
hazel and Maloideae (pomaceous fruitwood, which includes apple) in deposits at Rathlackan
suggests that the wood of these plants may also have been used in activities at this location,
while hazel wood was also recorded in Rathlackan deposits (L. O’Donnell, pers. comm.).
The stone-built Neolithic field systems of the North Mayo region are often interpreted as
being constructed for the containment of animals, due to the large size of the fields (Caulfield
1978; Waddell 2000, 36). It should be considered, however, that organic boundaries, making
use of scrub plants such as hazel, crab-apple and bramble, may also have been utilised to
sub-divide these fields. Given the evidence for cereal pollen in deposits contemporary with
the Neolithic field systems (for example, O’Connell and Molloy 2001, 104–6), it should be
considered that smaller arable fields, sub-divided by organic boundaries, were also a feature
of Neolithic agricultural activity in this region.
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