Ireland: A tomb that had been concealed for 4,000 years and had been found "untouched"

The burial site was discovered on South West Ireland’s Dingle peninsula when an excavator overturned a large rock to reveal a hidden room below.

Inside, native archaeologists discovered what they imagined to be the human bones, together with a clean oval-shaped stone – all of which may maintain clues about prehistoric burial rituals.

A farmer in southwest Ireland moved a large stone on his land and discovered this ancient tomb underneath. The site included a sub-chamber near the front of the tomb, as well as a smooth oblong-shaped stone and what’s believed to be human bones.

They suspect the tomb dates to the Bronze Age, making it between 2,500 and 4,000 years old.

But in contrast to most Bronze Age tombs, it was built entirely underground – meaning it could very well be even older.

The tomb was found during conventional, RTE-based earth enchantment work, when a large rock was raised to the point of revealing a “slab lined room” below.

An adjoining side room was discovered at the striking entrance of the mausoleum, containing what is believed to be human bone fragments.

A clean oval stone was also discovered, although its function is unclear.

Archaeologists from the National Monuments Service and National Museum of Ireland visited the site and are certain that the tomb dates back to the Bronze Age, which spanned from 2000 to 500 BC.

But it’s most likely even older due to the “extremely uncommon” design.

“Given its location, orientation and the existence of the massive slab, your preliminary thought is this can be a Bronze Age tomb,” archaeologist Mícheál Ó Coileáin informed RTE.

“But the design of this explicit tomb isn’t like every of the opposite Bronze Age burial websites we’ve right here”, he added.

“It’s attainable that it is earlier but it surely is very troublesome at this early stage thus far”.

Archaeologist Breandán Ó Cíobháin informed the exit that the tomb appeared to be “completely untouched” and that its contents remained in an authentic state.

“That could be very uncommon”, Ó Cíobháin mentioned. “It is a particularly important discovery as the unique construction has been preserved and never interfered with, as could have occurred within the case of different uncovered tombs.”