Céide Fields, Ireland
A young girl from the Mesolithic Mayo area, exhibited at Céide Fields Vistitor Centre, Ireland. Beneath the wild boglands of north Mayo lies a system of fields, dwelling areas and megalithic tombs which together make up the most extensive Stone Age monument in the world.
The stone-walled fields, extending over hundreds of hectares, are the oldest known globally, dating back almost 6,000 years.
This face is actually not a reconstruction. It’s an imagined face based upon what we know about the colours of skin, eyes and hair from DNA results from Ireland from this period. The idea from the client was to raise questions and thoughts around the concept of family, life, youth and death, and to bridge the gap between the ancient past and the visitors.
For me, this was a special project. Back in 1995, as a young archaeology student, I spent a summer excavating a Stone Age megalithic grave just a few kilometers away from Céide Fields. I remember a fantastic sunny summer and a beautiful landscape, drinking Guiness after a hard day’s work, but very scarce archaeological findings. We only found pieces of a shell. And it was probably not placed there by the constructors of the grave…a bit disappointing.
But the landscape! And the history of the area! Such beautiful memories.
@Nobel Prize Outreach, film: Clément Morin