Archaeologists have discovered evidence of what could be the oldest habitation site in the Burren (County Clare, Ireland) dating back 4,500 years at Caherconnell. Director of the dig, Graham Hull said that the team of archaeologists 'were whooping and jumping up and down at the discovery of a stone arrowhead'. He said: "We didn't even have to carbon date it. We knew instantly that the arrowhead is a time marker and dates to approximately 2500 BCE".
     The arrowhead was found by archaeologist Anita Pinagli and Mr Hull said the discovery 'was the star find of the dig'. He said: "The remains of a post-built wooden house were discovered and the finely-made arrowhead, together with the hundreds of stone tools and pottery dating to the Late Neolithic period or Early Bronze Age, indicate strongly that we have found a prehistoric settlement. It could be the oldest habitation site yet known on the Burren."
     Mr Hull said the Burren would have been more populous than it is now and the people would have been farmers and also hunted for wild deer and wild birds. "Also found, and supporting the notion that this is a domestic site, were a sandstone saddle quern and a granite rubbing stone that would have been used to grind cereals in the prehistoric period," he added.

Source: Irish Times (17 September 2009)