Ceide Fields

• an important Neolithic archaeological site in the northwest of Ireland

Discover

• In the 1930s, a local teacher realised that stones beneath the bog surface were once

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  walls
  

• His

  32

  son
   became an archaeologist and undertook an investigation of the site: - a traditional method used by local people to dig for
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  fuel
   was used to identify where stones were located - carbon dating later proved the site was Neolithic.

• Items are well preserved in the bog because of a lack of

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  oxygen
   .

Neolithic farmers

• Houses were

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  rectangular
   in shape and had a hole in the roof.

• Neolithic innovations include:  - cooking indoors - pots used for storage and to make

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  lamps
  

• Each field at Céide was large enough to support a big

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  family
  

• The fields were probably used to restrict the grazing of animals - no evidence of structures to house them during

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  winter
  

Reasons for the decline in farming

• a decline in

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  soil
   quality

• an increase in

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  rain