What is recorded here

Murrooghtoohy South holds a vanished mouth. Twelve worn teeth from a young adult lay exposed on Fanore beach in winter 2019, then a storm took the sand and every trace of the place where they rested. The seam between memory and forgetting is thin there, marked only by the shape of a loss the sea has already rehearsed.

On a low sandy rise on the margin of high dunes on the SE side of Fanore beach. In the winter of 2019 twelve human teeth were found lying on hard-packed sand in a loose cluster covering a small area (0.25m x 0.3m), possibly representing a burial. A few loose seashells were also evident. A midden (CL001-023----) lay c. 7m to the SSW. The teeth comprised incisors, premolars and molars and exhibited considerable wear. They were collected and submitted to the National Museum (Ref. IA/171/2021). Osteological analysis determined that the teeth were from the lower jaw of an adult aged between 25 and 35 years of age at death. The teeth exhibited evidence of a pathological defect known as dental enamel hypoplasia. Radiocarbon analysis of a sample of one tooth returned a date of Cal AD 1491-1637 (UBA-49636, 2 δ), with a median probability of AD 1565. In the week following the initial discovery a storm removed the entire sandy layer on which the teeth were found. No archaeological material was evident on inspection in 2021. The following images have been uploaded: CL001-036----_01.jpg View of area where teeth were found, from E. CL001-036----_02.jpg Image of 12 teeth Compiled by: Mary Tunney Date of upload: 1 March 2023

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