®lj£ ijLrtel} Jtcrturaltet 



Vol. III. MARCH, 1894. No 



O' 



SHELL-MOUNDS AT ROSAPKNNA, NORTH 



DONEGAL. 



BY W. H. PATTERSON, M.R.I.A. 



I visited Rosapenna in July, 1893, and had an opportunity of 

 spending a little time among the sand-dunes there. The 

 great strand, Tra-More, at the head of Sheep-haven, is the 

 western boundary of the dunes, which are here about two 

 miles in length, while they extend backwards from the sea, 

 till a part of them touches the waters of Mulroy Bay ; in fact, 

 but for these sand-hills, it seems that the waters of the two 

 bays would meet, and that Rosapenna and Rosguill, which 

 now form a peninsula, would be an island. 



These sand-dunes at Rosapenna must have been a favourable 



dwelling-place, or at any rate a favourite camping-ground 



with an early race of people. In many places among the 



dunes the shell-mounds, or kitchen-middens, of the old people 



are found, in most places broken down by the winds, and 



their contents scattered, and bleaching on the sand. Some 



portions of shell-mounds may still be seen undisturbed, and 



their contents, thrown together by the old people, can still be 



handled. Sand and wood-ashes, mixed with shells of edible 



species of mollusca, and bones of all sizes, including numerous 



large teeth, make up the bulk of these mounds. The bones 



in the mounds are brown and damp, while those that lie on 



the surface are dry and white, owing to the action of the sun 



and weather. The shells also have darker and fresher colours 



than those which have long since been scattered about. 



A 



