Neolithic and Bronze Age Landscapes of North Mayo: Report 2011

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The Middle Chamber Cutting H Charcoal was examined from a layer of brown organic material with pottery inclusions from the Middle Chamber, F65. A low level of oak only was identified from this context. Rathlackan enclosure Immediately to the east of the enclosure wall, a spread of charcoal rich material F27 was excavated. Mainly hazel followed by willow, with some birch and oak were identified from here. The court walls One sample (S059) was examined from F56, a curvilinear slot trench which appears to have held the edging side of a kerb (Byrne et al 2009c, 11). A low level of charcoal was identified from here (only six fragments) including oak, birch, hazel and alder. Square building foundation (Cutting B). A dense charcoal spread was located within the centre of the structure. Charcoal from this is composed mainly of hazel roundwoods, with pith and bark still attached. Up to 20 annual rings were counted on the pieces. A low level of birch was also identified from this context. This is primary evidence of burning on the site, and indicates that hazel branches were preferred for this function. 100% fragment count 80% 60% 40% 20% Ilex Ulmus Salix Quercus Maloideae Corylus Betula Alnus 0% E/MN MN LN EBA Figure 21 Phased charcoal identifications E580: N=352 (E/MN 91, MN 31, LN 126, EBA 104) 40
When the charcoal is examined through different time periods, it is clear that hazel dominates the Neolithic samples, while the picture of woodlands during the Early Bronze Age is quite different, being dominated by willow and elm (Figure 21). Annual ring counts range from 1 to 20 in the Rathlackan material. Growth is medium, with instances also of fast and slow growth. The fragments are mainly strongly curved, with some weakly curved annual rings indicating the use of larger branches or trunks. Discussion It is generally assumed that fuel and wood will be gathered from as close to the site as possible (Shackleton and Prins 1992) and therefore archaeological charcoal can reflect the surrounding environment. There are of course problems with this principle, such as particular species may have been selected over others and there are issues with charcoal fragmentation. Yet, for the purposes of environmental reconstruction, charcoal can be used to provide a floristic background to archaeological sites, particularly when integrated with other environmental data. It is impossible to know, however, how close to or far away from a site wood was gathered. fragment count 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% E24 921E40 E494 E109 E580 Ulmus Taxus Salix Quercus Pinus Maloideae Ilex Hedera Fraxinus Corylus/Alnus Corylus Betula Alnus Figure 22 Comparison of charcoal data from all sites: N= 4195 The Middle Neolithic Glenulra scatter (92E140) and Neolithic/Early Bronze Age Rathlackan (E580) sites are similar in the high levels of hazel (Figure 22). More oak is evident in Rathlackan than Glenulra, however. In contrast, both the Middle Neolithic Glenulra scatter (E24) and the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age Céide visitor centre (E494) are dominated by birch. The levels of oak are low within the Céide visitor centre while they are important in the Glenulra enclosure. The highest number of fragments was identified from Belderg Beg 41
Page 1 and 2: Neolithic and Bronze Age Landscapes
Page 3 and 4: Table of Contents Introduction ....
Page 5 and 6: Scientific Research associated with
Page 7 and 8: Introduction This report reviews th
Page 9 and 10: - A summary of the radiocarbon dati
Page 11 and 12: Creating Digital Archaeological Lan
Page 13 and 14: Figure 2: Data Model for NBNM GIS R
Page 15 and 16: Figure 4: example of outputs at Cé
Page 17 and 18: Rathlackan As a result of a lack of
Page 19 and 20: Radiocarbon Dating A further tranch
Page 21 and 22: RATHLACKAN Lab Number F no S. No Co
Page 23 and 24: GLENULRA ENCLOSURE Notes Cal BC (95
Page 25 and 26: Lab Code Cutting Sample Material AR
Page 27 and 28: Charcoal analysis from Neolithic an
Page 29 and 30: Results Overall charcoal 83 samples
Page 31 and 32: Glenulra Scatter 92E140 Middle Neol
Page 33 and 34: Oak and birch were recorded from Cu
Page 35 and 36: 35 30 no of samples 25 20 15 10 5 0
Page 37 and 38: Area A A long length of Neolithic f
Page 39 and 40: piece was 17 years old when cut, ba
Page 41 and 42: elating to midden B2P and from five
Page 43 and 44: 1% 6% Corylus 1% 14% 25% 0% 2% 4% 4
Page 45: posts burnt in situ. Rather the pos
Page 49 and 50: at Glenulra scatter. Alder was iden
Page 51 and 52: een freely available in the area. T
Page 53 and 54: References Byrne, G., Warren, G., W
Page 55 and 56: Verrill, L. and Tipping, R. 2010. U
Page 57 and 58: Table 3 Charcoal identifications fr
Page 59 and 60: Sample Date Ctg Context Description
Page 61 and 62: Sample Date Ctg Context Description
Page 63 and 64: Sample Trench Time period Descripti
Page 79 and 80: Table 7 Wood identification details
Page 81 and 82: Table 8 Charcoal identifications fr
Page 83 and 84: Cutting Sample Date Feature Descrip
Page 89 and 90: Table 8 Sample assessment Rathlacka
Page 91 and 92: Phase F. S. Trench Deposit type Loc
Page 93 and 94: Behy-Glenulra: Céide Fields visito
Page 95 and 96: A possible midden (B2P) contained a
Page 97 and 98:
Wild remains Hazelnut shell fragmen
Page 99 and 100:
References Beijerinck, W. 1947. Zad
Page 101 and 102:
Verrill, L. and Tipping, R. 2010. A
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Soils and Geology Graeme Warren Thi
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Figure 3: overview of geological fe
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distinctive deposits and landscape
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Figure 4: major landuse categories.
Page 111 and 112:
References ?? Soil Map of West Mayo
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The first scientific paper on late
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Also in the summer of 1963, fifty k
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the earth for the bank coming from
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dates from the macrofossil remains
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New Research and Researchers Over t
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Probed Surveys: Erris, Céide Field
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Iron probes of varying lengths had
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Céide hill twenty five years earli
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Survey on the Glenamoy - Bartnatra
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Bungurra River drains the Knocknalo
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The elevation of the tombs, all sit
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In 1936, 2 sub-rectangular cists, C
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Dooncarton Southwest slope 3.15 km
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The cross-section area occupied by
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No upper boundary was located on Kn
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The third house site, H3, on Gortme
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The 2 court tombs, Ma38 and Ma23, l
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This void is substantiated by exami
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Survey from Ballinglen to Rathfran
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Lissadrone basin. The peat cover is
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Two similar large round cairns are
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Wall Gaps Because of concealment an
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supported by an orthostat visible u
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and with different building techniq
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Survey Illustrations: Figure 1: Ove
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Figure 4: Seefin walls with associa
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Figure 7: Walls from the study area
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Figure 8: Cabintown Site A. 161
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Figure 11: Rathlackan sites H12 Fig
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Figure 15: Creevagh H5, Figure 16:
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Figure 19: Carrowkibbock Upper H20.
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Neolithic and Bronze Age Landscapes of North Mayo: Report 2011

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