The work of a Swedish archaeologist who has spent the past five years studying crannogs in south Sligo will form the basis of an exhibition to open tomorrow in Monasteraden.
Christina Fredengren, who is attached to Stockholm University, has teamed up with local artist Siobha Garvey to present the exhibition, entitled "The Crannogs of Lough Gara - Borderlands in Past and Present Societies".
The exhibition will be showing results of Ms Fredengren's excavation of the Sroove crannog and showing how it changed and had different uses. It also explores the theme of borders. Drawings of the finds will also be on display.
The crannogs date from the sixth or seventh centuries BC. Finds made include bone beads, pieces of a polished charcoal bracelet, sewing needles made from animal bone and a piece of a tiny comb. Ms Fredengren said most of the things found were to do with personal appearance and there was no evidence of any weapons.
"This gives us a different picture compared to the warlike image we have got of the people from the excavation of other crannogs," she said. The Sroove crannog was not one of the royal crannogs, but one used by ordinary people, and she said it was important for this reason.
Teams of international students have been working on the excavations with Ms Fredengren over the past five years and her results will be published shortly. The Heritage Council and Duchas have given some funding for the excavations and the dating of artefacts.
Ms Fredengren said it was significant that some of the artefacts dated from the Iron Age, as there were very few recognised Iron Age sites in Ireland.
Lough Gara has the greatest concentration of crannog sites in Ireland - a total of 300 - and these were only discovered after a drainage scheme in the 1950s.
Ms Fredengren said the emphasis in both her study and the exhibition was on a "socially aware interpretation" of archaeology. The exhibition includes photographs of various kinds of boundaries taken by people living around the lake, a reconstructed cairnand an installation by Siobha Garvey of her interpretation of a crannog. Slides of portraits of local people will be reflected on to muslin and the background sound will be of lakewater lapping. The exhibition will be open for at least a month at Clogher Hall, Monasteraden.