Ever Since the ancient burial site of Carrowmore became the focus of archaeologists during the last century, it has been shown repeatedly to be of immense significance. The excavations of Prof Goran Burenholt of the University of Stockholm since the 1970s, however, have prompted the most remarkable claims about its place in history, and none more so following his excavation this month of "tomb 52a".
One newspaper headline suggested it was the world's oldest building; about 7,400 years old, and some 700 years older than that which had been classified as the earliest piece of free-standing architecture in western Europe. If the tomb proves to be older than the pyramids and hundreds of years older than the passage tombs of the Boyne Valley, notably Newgrange and Knowth, the work led by Prof Burenholt will indeed mean "the beginning" would shift from a neolithic tomb at Bougon, near Poitiers in France, to Carrowmore.
This month's revelation is being greeted with a sense of fascination but also a tinge of scepticism in some archaeological quarters. It has rekindled an intense debate that has raged for much of the past 20 years.
The oldest generally accepted western European stone architecture was thought to be 6,300 years old, but carbon dating tests since 1977 on the Carrowmore site suggest Stone Age hunter-gatherers were building small, roofed stone tombs surrounded by stone circles 7,400 years ago. Tomb 52a, discovered under a field wall, could provide further proof. But contrary to a report in the London Independent, carbon-dating has yet to be completed on charcoal samples taken from its vicinity, Prof Burenholt told The Irish Times.
The age issue aside, excavations in Carrowmore are exciting archaeologists because of the insight it is providing into the social environment in which it was built. The tomb and stone circles provide further compelling evidence that early Irish populations engaged in agriculture many hundreds of years before mainland Britain. Its burials can be placed in the context of the late mesolithic period, also known as the middle Stone Age, which was considered a preagricultural era when there was no free-standing architecture.
Moreover, this year's "magnificent finds" are important in the context of more recent events there. Most tombs at Carrowmore were damaged by grave-robbers or amateur archaeologists during the last century. The site of the new passage tomb was identified at the time but never excavated. It will be excavated next year.
More exquisite material has been found at tomb 55, which was considered by 19th-century archaeologists to have been destroyed. When a trial trench was dug this summer, the lower levels were found to be relatively intact. A large amount of cremated material revealed two stone pendant beads of beautiful quality. Exceptional finds were also made at an untouched court tomb at Primrose Grange, some miles from the main cemetery. These included an arrowhead and a double-headed antler or bone pin.
Prof Burenholt has been excavating Carrowmore on and off since 1977. His work led, in the late 1970s, to stunning claims of exceptionally early archaeological features, notably three radiocarbon-dated samples going back to between 3700 BC and 4000 BC. These were challenged by some archaeologists, including Dr Seamus Caulfield of University College Dublin.
Carbon-dating is a technique which depends very much on the quality and origin of a charcoal sample. In practice, it is often difficult to pinpoint an exact date. Results have an in-built "probability" factor associated with them. Undaunted, Prof Burenholt still stands over his claims that parts of the site date as far back as 4000 BC.
Another Swedish archaeologist, Dr Stefan Bergh, reviewed those dates and published his findings in an book on the region surrounding Carrowmore in the past year. He suggested two groupings of dates for the site, the earliest of which was 3700 BC. He concluded they are from a very early period, though Irish archaeologists are inclined to associate Carrowmore with the Boyne Valley passage tombs, at between 3700 to 2700 BC, and find it difficult to reconcile a 1,000-year difference when their features are so similar.
According to a UCD archaeology lecturer, Dr Muiris O Suilleabhain , an authority on passage tombs and the Irish neolithic period from 4000 to 2300 BC, pushing Carrowmore back a further 1,000 years "may not hold up". That said, such a claim could fit comfortably with work by Dr Caulfield at the nearby Ceide Fields. Carbon-dating there suggests the landscape was divided up and farmed with stone walls during the fourth millennium but had gone by 3000 BC.
The evidence of agricultural activity at Carrowmore was also very interesting, he said. The normal view was that agricultural activity in Ireland dates to 4000 BC, though there are some hints of farming before that, notably the discovery of cattle bone at Ferriter's Cove in west Kerry and other pollen, tree-clearance and grassland evidence suggesting it originates hundreds of years before that.
Regardless of the outcome, Prof Burenholt's work at Carrowmore is of immense value, Dr O Suilleabhain said. He has examined its tombs and provided a useful spread of radiocarbon dates from their immediate vicinity and at other locations in the ancient cemetery.
The contrast in dates with the Boyne Valley may prove Carrowmore is earlier. In any event, his team has brought a range of technology to an important Irish site, including infra-red photography. This has facilitated an extensive technological survey of its landscape. All findings and maps are digitalised and incorporated into a computer.
Prof Burenholt said archaeologists should always be sceptical. But in relation to Carrowmore, dates have become more conclusive.
An Internet website set up for the Carrowmore excavations can be accessed at: http:// www.got.kth/se/carrowmore