SHARE:
COUNTY WATERFORD, IRELAND—Traces of two dwellings dated to between 3600 and 3700 B.C. have been discovered in a quarry in southeastern Ireland by researchers from Rubicon Archaeology, according to a WLRFM.com report. A polished stone ax was found beneath the floor surface in one of the houses. It is thought to have been placed there as an offering to protect the household. A second ax recovered from the site is thought to have originated in northwestern England, suggesting that Neolithic people were transporting goods across the Irish Sea. The excavation also unearthed pottery, stone tools, and cremation burials dated to the Bronze Age. To read about a Neolithic tomb uncovered in Ireland's Boyne Valley, go to "Passage to the Afterlife."
