|
 |
You are > Home > Viking ‘town’ is Ireland’s equivalent of Pompeii
|
Friday, June 11, 2004
Viking ‘town’ is Ireland’s equivalent of Pompeii
By Marion O’Mara
IT’S likely to be some weeks yet before Minister for the Environment Martin Cullen announces recommendations for dealing with and possibly preserving what historians are now describing as Ireland’s first town.
The discovery of the Viking settlement, at Woodstown, five miles from the city, which is believed to date back to the mid-9th century, was made as preparatory work got underway on the city’s €300m by-pass.
The site, located close to the River Suir, is 1.5 km long by 0.5 km wide and so far up to 3,000 artifacts have been found over a distance of 150 yards. From photographs, which have been examined by the country’s leading archaeologists, early indications suggest that the complete original town of Waterford founded by the Vikings remains virtually intact with dozens of streets and dwellings just under the soil surface.
It is thought that up to 4,000 people may have lived there. To date, nails, weights, jewellery, silverware, weapons and some ceramics have been found along with some ship fragments.
From evidence found at the site, a fleet of 120 Viking ships occupied the Woodstown site about 812. This, in turn, gave them control of Waterford Harbour and of the three-river system, the Suir, the Barrow and the Norse, allowing them ready access upriver to the rich lands and monasteries of these river valleys.
The settlement began as a longphort and that is what archaeologists originally thought the find was until further examination. This is a Dshaped fortification made by the Vikings to protect themselves and their ships from attack. It was the typical fortress from which the Vikings raided the countryside.
The Suir Valley Railway runs along the edge of Woodstown between the site and the Suir. The builders of the railway demolished a mound in a field called Seandún ‘old fortress.’ The mound was found to contain a large number of bones. All indications now suggest that this may have been a Viking ship burial, the only one found in Ireland.
John Maas, an academic PhD researcher, said that it was sheer luck that the aerial photographs showed from the plant colouring that a larger site lay beneath the surface.
“This is Ireland’s equivalent of Pompeii. The find, if it proves to be what we think it is, is the most significant piece of Viking history in Europe. This will be worth up to €200 million annually to the local economy if properly dealt with by the authorities,” explained Mr Maas.
Main News Page |
Previous Page
|
|
|
|
