EMAP_Progress_Reports_2009_2.pdf - The Heritage Council

Longford
Aghadegnan, Co. Longford
Early Medieval Settlement Enclosure.
Grid Ref: N13387688 (21338/27688)
SMR No: LF013-013
Excavation Licence: 91E0055; 93E0048
Excavation Duration/Year: February – August 1991; April – June 1993.
Site Director: J. Carroll (J. Carroll & Co.).
The site consisted of a large earthwork (61m in external diameter) set on a natural hillock in
a boggy hinterland. Almost the whole of the area, to be destroyed by the construction of a
by-pass, was archaeologically excavated, although the archaeological features in the interior
of the enclosure had been severely damaged by later potato cultivation.
Excavation revealed a number of phases of enclosure on the site (Fig. 203). The earliest
phase included a roundhouse, defined by a double arc of postholes (although these probably
represent consecutive phases of single-post-built roundhouses). This building was cut by a
trench, approximately 0.9m in depth. The trench also cut through a clay horizon which sealed
a small circular post-built structure, about 2.2m in diameter, which was interpreted as an
animal pen. A radiocarbon date from this structure suggests an occupation date in the fourth
to sixth century (see below). The trench enclosed an area similar in size to that formed by
the earthwork, and stratigraphically pre-dated it. Radiocarbon dates supported this conclusion
(see below). Patches of packing stones and re-deposited clays were interpreted as
representing the postholes for a wooden palisade associated with this trench.
The palisade-trench was later in-filled, but prior to the construction of the bank-and-ditched
enclosure there appears to have been some ironworking activity on site. A series of postholes
outlined a circular structure which was associated with charcoal spreads, and may represent
a workshop; and charcoal and iron slag were found in the upper fill of the earlier palisade
trench. Radiocarbon dates from these contexts (see below) suggest a late-fifth/early-sixth
century date for this phase of occupation. There is also evidence, in the form of a possible
‘ore-roasting pit’, charcoal and slag, for ironworking being carried on in the interior of the
later banked-and-ditched enclosure.
There are no definite dates for the construction of the banked-and-ditched enclosure,
although radiocarbon dates from bone under the bank, and wood from the ditch give some
idea of its occupation (see below). Excavation revealed the ditch to be around 6m wide at the
top, and, on average 1.6m deep. Although over 500 postholes were discovered on site, no
internal structures can be definitively associated with this phase on occupation. There was
evidence for a roundhouse in the interior (approximately 5.6m in internal diameter) which
may have been rebuilt at least once, but this structure could equally have been associated
with the unenclosed settlement which existed pre-palisade trench.
A waterlogged area of the enclosure ditch revealed the evidence for wooden slats (one of
which was radiocarbon dated to the seventh/eighth century), which may have functioned as
a lining for the ditch, but series of stone-packed post-emplacements found in the ditch
suggest that a more substantial feature, such as a revetment or fence may have been
present.
Only a few finds were recovered from the site. A fragment of a cross-engraved stone was
found in the lower layers of the bank (which would have been obtained from the upper layer
of the ditch cut), and a possible iron-headed pin was found in a similar context in another
cutting.
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