A midden, essentially an ancient rubbish heap, might sound unremarkable at first, but these deposits of shells, bones, pottery fragments and other discarded materials serve as time capsules that reveal what people ate, how they lived and what tools they used centuries or even millennia ago.

The Magheramore midden, like many similar sites along Ireland’s coastline, likely contains evidence of shellfish consumption, seasonal occupation patterns and perhaps tools or pottery that could date the site and link it to specific periods of Irish prehistory.