Archaeological excavations at Killuragh Cave, Co. Limerick: a persistent place in the landscape from the Early Mesolithic to the Late Bronze Age

Archaeological excavations at Killuragh Cave, Co. Limerick, in 1993 and 1996 followed from the discovery of prehistoric material in the 1990s by the landowner, Mr Benny O’Neill. Though a small and relatively inconspicuous site, Killuragh Cave has a long history of animal and human usage, potentially stretching back 11,000 years and continuing intermittently until the nineteenth century. The assemblage of 10,615 animal bones, 229 human bones and 209 artefacts of Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age, post-medieval and modern date indicate that this was a persistent place in the landscape. The prehistoric material largely suggests that the cave was associated with ritual and funerary activities, hinting that it may have been remembered and its significance transmitted from generation to generation over several millennia.