A carved wooden statue was unearthed by a team from the Archaeological Management Solutions who were carrying out an archaeological survey of the route of the proposed N5 Ballaghaderreen to Scramoge Road Project. The Gortnacrannagh Idol as it is being called, was C13 dated to ca. 350 AD. Only a dozen such idols have been found in Ireland and at more than two and a half metres, the Gortnacrannagh Idol is the largest to date.
The idol during excavation, from Roscommon County Council (2021).
Looking at the face of an Iron Age god, post cleaning, from Murphy
(2021). Original caption reads: Wood Specialist, Cathy Moore inspecting the
Gortnacrannagh Idol. Only a dozen such idols have been found in Ireland and at
more than two and a half metres, the Gortnacrannagh Idol is the largest to
date.
Some details are given by Rathcroghan Visitor Centre website (2021):
“The discovery of a wooden pagan idol just 6km northeast of
Rathcroghan is cause for great excitement here at Rathcroghan Visitor Centre.
The wooden idol, created over 1600 years ago, reveals more of this
pre-Christian, iron Age landscape and of the people that made Roscommon their
home. Discovered at Gortnacrannagh during archaeological investigation by
Archaeological Management Solutions (AMS) in advance of the N5 Ballaghaderreen
to Scramoge Road Project, the idol current resides in Universuty College
Dublin, where conservator Susannah Kelly is undertaking a three-year process to
preserve the ancient object. Excitingly for Rathcroghan Visitor Centre, a full
size replica, created to further study this unique find, will soon go on permanent
display here in our museum. This will be of great value in telling the story of
this fascinating ancient landscape.
Created from a split oak trunk the Gortnacrannah Idol has a small human-shaped head at one end and a series of horizontal notches carved along its body and is thought to have been created in the image of a pagan deity. Discovered in a waterlogged site, AMS archaeologist Dr Eve Campbell, who directed the excavation of the site commented “Our ancestors saw wetlands as mystical places where they could connect with their gods and their Otherworld. The discovery animal bone alongside a ritual dagger suggests that animal sacrifice was carried out at the site and the idol is likely to have been part of these ceremonies.” Roscommon County Council Resident Archaeologist Deidre McCarthy commented “Road projects such as the N5 provide significant opportunity for the investigation of our archaeological heritage. Gortnacrannah is an excellent example. Were it not for the road, we would never have known about this extraordinary site.”
Whilst Campbell’s interpretation of the meaning of the Gortnacrannah Idol is certainly lyrical, I think it is a big stretch to say that “Our ancestors saw wetlands as mystical places where they could connect with their gods and their Otherworld.” Passing off one’s own ideologies as those of, in this case, Iron Age people is fraught with difficulties as these ideas, current in anthropology and to some extent archaeology have no basis in evidence. Put simply, they are just modern ideas dressed up as fact. As McCall and Simmons (1969), say: “Only a person immersed in a culture has the possibility of understanding it deeply.”
A more prosaic, and wider explanation of the possible meanings of these
wooden idols was related to Gershon (2021): “The lower ends of several figures
were also worked to a point suggesting that they may once have stood upright,”
says Cathy Moore, a specialist in wooden artifacts, in the statement. “Their
meaning is open to interpretation, but they may have marked special places in
the landscape, have represented particular individuals or deities or perhaps
have functioned as wooden bog bodies, sacrificed in lieu of humans.”
The face of God? A line drawing of the upper part of the
Gortnacrannah Idol from AMS (2021).
Line drawings of the upper and lower sections of the idol as
recovered. Anterior and posterior views. AMS (2021).
Virtual reconstruction of the idol, from AMS (2021).
I look forward, with great anticipation, to the undoubted plethora
of papers this discovery should unleash in the next few years.
References
AMS (2021)/ The Gortnacrannah Idol in more detail, at: https://m.facebook.com/AMSarchaeology/ accessed 20/08/2021
Gershon, L. (2021). Eight-Foot-Tall, 1,600-Year-Old Statue
of Pagan Deity Found in Ireland. Smithsonian magazine at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/1600-year-old-wooden-idol-found-ireland-180978453/#:~:text=Researchers%20have%20recovered%20an%20eight,of%20a%20road%20construction%20project.
Accessed 20/08/2021
McCall, G. J. and J. L. Simmons (1969). Issues in
Participant Observation: A Text and Reader. Chicago: Addison-Wesley
Murphy, G. (2021). Archaeologists uncover 1,600-year-old
idol in Roscommon bog. Irish Examiner, at: https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40358522.html
accessed 20/08/2021
Rathcroghan Visitor Centre (2021). Gortnacrannah Idol, at: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10158742705246378&id=130956586377&_ft_=top_level_post_id.10158742705246378%3Acontent_owner_id_new.130956586377%3Aphoto_attachments_list.%5B10158742694086378%2C10158742694311378%2C10158742694676378%2C10158742695031378%5D%3Astory_location.4%3Astory_attachment_style.album&__tn__=%2C%3B
accessed 20/08/2021
Roscommon County Council (2021) At: https://m.facebook.com/pg/RoscommonCountyCouncil/photos/
accessed 20/08/2021
Further reading
Archaeological Management Solutions (2021). Through Bog
& Meadow: The Archaeology of the N5 Road, County Roscommon. At: https://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=e45bd5c54fa442bb8a6236335d13b5c8
accessed 20/08/2021
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