Hermitage Archaeological Research Project Website Launched
HARP is a multidisciplinary team led by Aimée Little investigating a Mesolithic site in Ireland
Hermitage is a unique site within Irish Prehistory. 9,300 years ago, on a high bluff overlooking the River Shannon, groups of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers congregated to cremate, bury and remember deceased members of their community in a very special way. These are the oldest recorded burials in Ireland, containing evidence for a complex set of funerary traditions which involved advanced pyrotechnology, the ritualised treatment of everyday objects and the building of grave markers.
H|A|R|P was founded in 2017 to build upon the fieldwork undertaken by AEGIS Archaeology at Hermitage, Castleconnell (Co. Limerick, IE) and led by Aimée Little. Thanks to University of York Culture and Communication Seed funding and a recent grant awarded by the Royal Irish Academy, a new survey project is being undertaken to understand the landscape context of these burials.
You can follow the H|A|R|P team's progress through this website, which contains links to publications and details of past as well as upcoming events: bringing the story of Hermitage to the public and archaeological research community.