What is recorded here

Midden in Rosserk is a shell deposit exposed in a sea cliff at the narrow south end of the River Moy estuary in County Mayo. The fact is that human discard has been caught in the climbing shoreline, saving a thin trace of meals, trade or residence that water would otherwise have taken. The living edge is the point: a small act at the water became a marker because the land kept moving.

Located in a vertical scarp, which forms the land edge on the W shoreline at the narrow S end of the estuary of the River Moy. There are a number of small islands in the river at this point, which are accessible across exposed sandflats at low tide. A thin lens (L 0.6m; T 0.04-0.05m) of fragmentary cockle shells is visible in section in the earthen scarp (H 1.3m) at a height of c. 0.5-0.6mm above the base of the scarp. A single periwinkle shell was noted amongst the cockle shells. The lower parts of the scarp are covered by bright-green algae which may conceal the full extent of the midden. Another midden (MA022-124001-) is located 25m to S, exposed in section in the same scarp. Rosserk Abbey (MA022-082001-) is located c. 100m to S. Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy Date of upload: 17 June 2016

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