Radiocarbon dated episode of Bronze Age slope instability in the south-eastern Burren, county Clare Richard Moles Department of Chemical and Environmental Sciences, University of Limerick Norman Moles Department of Geology, School of Geosciences, Queen's University of Belfast James J. Leahy Department of Chemical and Environmental Sciences, University of Limerick ABSTRACT While previously reported evidence from lacustrine sediments has linked Burren soil erosion to anthropogenic forest clearance, there have been no previous accounts of date- able episodes of prehistoric slope instability based on evidence from terrestrial sites. Described here is the occurrence of charcoal buried to a depth of c. 2m within diamicton at a site on Knockanes hill close to Mullach Mór hill in the south-eastern Burren. An AMS radiocarbon date places the formation of this charcoal in the Bronze Age, contem- porary with exceptionally high rates of soil erosion and forest clearance in a nearby lake catchment. EMS images indicate that the charcoal is of fine grained deciduous wood, most probably hazel (Corylus avellana) but perhaps birch (Betula spp.). Results of analyses of diamictons present in the vicinity of the charcoal support the view that the pattern of occurrence of diamictons in the present day Burren landscape is in part the product of prehistoric mass movement. Key Index Words: Karst landscape, mass movement, charcoal. Introduction Much of the present day Burren karstic landscape is devoid of soil cover. While there exists much evidence for glacial erosion and deposition, the consensus position adopted by researchers is that during the Holocene a more extensive soil and diamicton cover in large part was destroyed through erosion (Drew, 1983; Jelièiæand O'Connell, 1992). Palaeoecological study of lake deposits at the edge of the Burren has provided evidence for slope instability linked to forest clearance (Thompson, 1997). This paper reports on an investigation of diamicton at a terrestrial Burren site located outside this lake catchment and of charcoal which unexpectedly was recovered from within it. Soils and diamicton in the immediate vicinity of this site are also included in the study. The purpose of the investigation is to establish if there are similarities in the timing and nature of slope instability indicated by evidence from Thompson's lacustrine site and this terrestrial site, which would support more general inferences concerning the processes which have resulted in the contemporary distribution of soil and diamicton cover in the Burren. Study area and methods Diamictons and soils within the study area were described by Moles et al. (1995). This paper reports on a group of diamicton patches with a maximum recorded depth of 2.6m, surrounded by bare limestone pavement on the south-eastern flank of Knockanes hill, at an altitude between 135 and 165m a.s.l, and grid reference R328 971 (see Figure 1). The largest patch rests at a break in slope, where the side of a glacially eroded col with slopes of 25-29° meets the floor with slopes in the range 4-6°. Visual evidence suggests Irish Geography, Volume 32(1), 1999, 52-57.