Palynological investigation of a later Bronze Age copper mine at Derrycarhoon in south-west Ireland

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a recent palynological analysis at a prehistoric mine in the Mizen Peninsula of West Cork. Archaeological survey and excavation confirm Derrycarhoon is the first copper mine in Ireland dated to the later Bronze Age, c.1400-1000 BC. The production there represents the end of a mining tradition in the south-west region that began a millennium or so earlier at Ross Island, Co. Kerry. The palynological study at Derrycarhoon examines the contemporary environment of the early mine, to understand its effect on local vegetation during the later second millennium BC. This environmental impact was reduced by the small scale of ore extraction over several centuries, and by a mining technology that did not significantly impact local woodland at a location where contamination from surface ore-processing was both short-lived and localised. The results add to information on the variability of environmental impacts caused by mining and metal production in prehistoric Europe. Finally, this study contributes to a wider understanding of vegetation history and anthropogenic influences during the Holocene in the West Cork region.Public concern with mining today often centres on the negative consequences for the natural environment, as well as health and quality of life implications for local communities. This includes the physical alteration of landscape, atmospheric and groundwater pollution, and resulting effects on vegetation and the food chain. There were also various environmental impacts around the extraction of metal in prehistory, the scale of which largely depended on the intensity and duration of mining at different locations. This ranged from short-lived operations, often seasonal, producing small amounts of metal for local needs, to more sustained activity undertaken by established mining communities that supplied significant amounts of metal over a wide area through organised trade.The environmental impact of most prehistoric copper mines was confined to the extraction site and its immediate surroundings. There are examples where the scale of operations had greater consequences for the local or wider