344 Proceedings of the Roi/al Irish Academy. 



organization, and architectural skill of their builders: and, thanks to the 

 happy circumstance that most of them were completely unritled, we have 

 gained a fuller insight into the burial ritual of the Bronze Age in Ireland 

 than ever before, liven though the people did not indulge in incised 

 ornament, the constructive skill displayed (notably in Cams F and G) shows 

 that the ancient dwellers in county Sligo were on the same cultural level as 

 their brethren in Meath ; and the fact that their monuments remained 

 undisturbed has enabled us, by their investigation, to fill in lacunae in our 

 knowledge which were inevitable, owing to the plundered state of the typical 

 monuments of Loughcrew and the Boyne. 



Wlien the Bronze Age settlement established itself on Carrowkeel 

 Mountain, the physical aspect of the surrounding country was very different 

 from what we see to-day. Much of the lower ground was covered by dense 

 forests, in which ranged the Eed Deer, the Wild Boar, and the Bear (as the 

 bone deposits in the earns have shown), and no doubt such other species as are 

 known to zoologists to have inhabited Ireland at that time. Yery likely the 

 stone walls round the dwellings served the important purpose of keeping out 

 Wolves. Interspersed among the forests were extensive areas of swamp. The 

 hill itself is extensive and isolated. It commands wide views in every direction, 

 so that timely warning could be given of the approach of marauders. The spur 

 on which the village is built could be converted into a fortress with but little 

 trouble ; by building walls at the tops of the fissures and " chimneys " that 

 here and there break the continuity of its almost perpendicular walls of cliff' 

 it could be made almost impregnable. Thus defined, the spur strongly 

 resembles the site of many of the promontory forts with which the labours 

 of Mr. Westropp have made us familiar. The tribe evidently belonged to 

 the primitive dolichocephalic Neolithic stock which was spread over western 

 and southern Europe, and now forms a leading element in the modern popu- 

 lation of Ireland. 



There is evidence in the two ox-bones in Carn F that this animal was 

 domesticated. The fish of the lake and the game of the forest offered an 

 abundant store of food to the inhabitants. There was no evidence as to 

 whether they did or did not practise the arts of agriculture. The weak point 

 of the village site is the scantiness of the water-supply. The springs of the 

 hill are few and feeble ; and there seems to be none witliin the immediate 

 neighbourhood of the site. 



The village consisted of some fifty circular hut-sites, more or less protected 

 by the cliff-walls of the spur on which it stands. It may be as well to 

 anticipate here an objection. We assume that this extensive colony is con- 

 nected with the earns wliicli .surround it on tliree sides. The truth of this 



