The thousand year old boy
Year: 2015
In 2006, a group of cavers made significant archaeological discoveries in a cave located in the Burren, a unique limestone landscape in the west of Ireland. Among the findings was a poignant revelation: the skeleton of a child dating back 3,000 years to the Bronze Age. The archaeologists were able to extract DNA from these remains and tested it against samples from 150 children at a local school. Remarkably, one boy was found to be an exact match, and the cave containing the discoveries was situated on the boundary of his family's farm.
This captivating story raises an essential question: can a landscape hold the individual and collective narratives of its travelers? Does this terrain convey the stories of this boy and the generations that came after, all linked through the DNA he carries? This rugged land is not merely a compressed time capsule; it is a rich tapestry woven from fragmented lives, both organic and inorganic.
In this work, I explored the concept of the "adequate step," introduced by the late writer and cartographer Tim Robinson (1935-2020). This idea suggests that each step taken in a landscape serves as a note that records its geology, biology, myths, history, and politics. It allows for the existence of an allegorical landscape, rich with intangible elements. Tim Robinson's map of the Burren served as my guide to chart my own "adequate step," a journey that explores the layers of history and memory woven into the landscape.
The thousand-year-old child explores the Burren as an ancient place, a landscape that silently witnesses the lives of those who came before, cradling their memories and stories.
The title refers to an experimental piece by Roger Doyle, an Irish composer whose music delves into imagined worlds — spanning the past, present, and future.
