The
Céide fields are located 8 km west of Ballycastle on
the Ballycastle/Belderrig road. The fields are ordinary fields
in which cattle once grazed and wheat and barley were harvested.
What makes them unique is that they lay buried under the bog
for 5,000 years making them the oldest intact field system
in the world. Céide Fields is not just one of the oldest
field systems in the world, it is also the most extensive
Stone Age monument in the world.
The
walls were traced under the bog using metal probes and where
the bog has been removed, there is a well organised countryside
of stone-walled fields which have lain there intact for 5,000
years. One can step down from the present day bog into an
untouched landscape which lay buried for almost fifty centuries.
The
story of the fields is told at 12 points along the guided
tour and you can discover a buried wall for yourself using
a centuries old method of probing.
There
is also an Interpretive Centre on the site which has exhibitions,
audio-visual show and tearooms. You can also find out the
story of an ever-changing landscape, such as why bogs grow
and the huge influence a subtle change in climate can bring
about.
|