Archaeologists using advanced LiDAR technology have unearthed a significant discovery at Baltinglass in County Wicklow, Ireland, known as the “Hillfort Capital” of the region. This cutting-edge survey has revealed hundreds of previously unrecorded monuments, including five Middle Neolithic cursus monuments—long, narrow earthwork enclosures that have reshaped our understanding of this prehistoric landscape.
A Breakthrough in Irish Neolithic Archaeology
The study, just published in Antiquity and led by Dr. James O’Driscoll of the University of Aberdeen and funded by the Community Monuments Fund and Wicklow County Council, utilized LiDAR to create highly detailed three-dimensional models of the landscape. This technology, similar to that used by some autonomous vehicles, was crucial in detecting the remnants of these ancient structures, most of which had been obliterated by millennia of ploughing.
The discovery of the cursus monuments is particularly significant as it challenges the previously held belief that Baltinglass was abandoned for approximately 2000 years between the Early Neolithic and the Late Bronze Age, notes O’Driscoll. These findings indicate that the area was continuously settled and held ritual significance across these periods.
The prehistoric monuments of Baltinglass. (James O’Driscoll/Antiquity)
Pathways for the Dead: Aligning the Physical and Spiritual
The cursus monuments discovered are not only architecturally significant but also hold profound cultural and spiritual…
