What is recorded here

In 2014, workers cut through Clonad Bog and found six heavy oak timbers locked together like the ribs of a drowned room. Dendrochronology dated the wood to 1064 BC, proving the platform predates written history in Offaly. The timbers bear faceted toolmarks, suggesting human hands shaped them before they sank into peat. What they supported remains unknown, but the craft is clear: someone built to last, then the bog swallowed the purpose.

This site is located in the industrial peatlands of Clonad Bog. It was recorded in the 2013 Re-assessment Peatland Survey as four heavy roundwood elements located in the E part of the bog, and was exposed in section in the W-facing drain face of a former stockpile field (Whitaker 2014). The site was excavated in 2014 (licence 14E0353). A single cutting measuring 2x3.5m was opened. Two additional oak roundwoods were exposed, orientated NE-SW. All six elements were closely placed and fairly uniform in shape and size, and were moderately well preserved. Multiple faceted concave toolmarks were noted at the SE extent of two of the elements. Two overlying brushwood elements were recorded at the SW extent of the cutting. The site was overlain and underlain by moderately decomposed Sphagnum peat containing much fibrous matter. A fragment of oak plank was chosen for dendrochronological dating and returned a result of 1064 BC ± 9 (Q11606). Compiled by: Jane Whitaker/Femke Vleeshouwer Date of upload: 25 February 2020

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