Mount Sandel Mesolithic site facts for kids
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Imagine a time long, long ago, about 9,000 years back! That's when people lived at the Mount Sandel Mesolithic site. This amazing ancient place is found near Coleraine in Northern Ireland. It's one of the very oldest places in Ireland where we know people lived. Only one other spot, Gwendoline Cave, might be even older!
Archaeologists, who are like history detectives, dug up this site in the 1970s. They learned so much about the people who lived there during the Mesolithic period. This time is also known as the Middle Stone Age.
Discovering Mount Sandel's Secrets
The Mount Sandel site is super important because it gives us a clear picture of life in the Early Mesolithic period in Ireland. Before this discovery, we didn't have much information about how people lived back then. It was especially exciting because archaeologists found actual homes! Before Mount Sandel, we didn't have proof of houses in Ireland until much later, in the Neolithic period.
The archaeologists found the remains of ten different structures. They also found many pits, post-holes, and hearths (old fireplaces). These discoveries helped them understand how the ancient people built their homes and lived their daily lives.
Building Ancient Homes
The homes at Mount Sandel were quite special. Most of them were shaped like a rough oval and were about 6 metres (20 feet) wide. They were built over shallow dips in the ground that people had dug.
The walls of these homes were made from strong posts. Many of these posts leaned inwards towards the centre of the building. This suggests that people used young trees or saplings. They would bend these saplings inwards after pushing them into the ground. This created a tent or tepee-like shape. People probably covered this wooden frame with animal hides, reeds, or other natural materials to keep warm and dry. Inside each hut, there was a hearth right in the middle, which would have kept the home toasty.
Life in the Mesolithic Era
Archaeologists believe that a small family group lived at Mount Sandel for most of the year. These people were hunter-gatherers. This means they got their food by hunting animals and gathering plants.
They were very clever about finding food throughout the year. In the summer, they would catch migrating salmon from the rivers. In the autumn, they gathered tasty hazelnuts. And in the winter, they hunted wild boar. Their strong homes, heated by central fires, were the only confirmed Mesolithic houses ever found in Ireland. They show us how resourceful and clever these ancient people were!
