Human remains of an adult and a young child dating to the Bronze Age have been discovered in a cave in the Burren.
Dr Marion Dowd, a lecturer in archaeology at the Institute of Technology in Sligo, who led the excavation at Glencurran cave, said the findings were significant for a number of reasons.
"It is interesting that the remains were not burnt, because cremation was the normal burial rite in the Bronze Age," she said.
Dr Dowd, who will give a public lecture on her findings at the Sligo Institute of Technology today, said Glencurran cave had not previously been identified as a Bronze Age burial ground.
After cavers discovered human bones on the floor of the cave, she decided to investigate further.
"When we started we had no idea what we would find, or indeed if we would find anything," she said.
"I had never heard of Glencurran cave before and, indeed, there are very few excavated Bronze Age burial grounds in Co Clare."
Dr Dowd added: "I have been digging for 14 years now, but I never worked on a site like this before. It is very significant."
In 2004 and 2005 the remains of three adults and one child, aged two to three, were found in the cave, as well as evidence of more recent human habitation, probably dating back 1,200 to 1,400 years.
The team has used carbon-dating to conclude that the body of one adult was placed in the cave 3,000 years ago and that the child died 2,500 years ago.
"We hope to establish how they died, how old they were, their sex, if they had any illness or disease and more details about lifestyle," Dr Dowd said .
She said she also hopes to determine how old the other human remains found in the cave are.
"We believe that the cave was occupied probably by one person who slept inside and cooked outside," she said.
