EMAP_Progress_Reports_2009_2.pdf - The Heritage Council

Louth
Balgatheran 1, Co. Louth
Early Medieval Enclosure Complex
Grid reference: O04977886 (304970/278860)
SMR: N/A
Excavation Licence No: 00E0477
Excavation duration: July – November 2000
Site director: R. Chapple (Valerie J. Keeley Ltd.)
Balgatheran 1, excavated in advance of the Northern Motorway, north of Drogheda, was a
potential early medieval enclosure complex that incorporated an enclosure with large internal
ditch and an associated field enclosure. A number of structures and a kiln were also
identified. Earlier activity was revealed, including prehistoric pits and postholes, and the late
medieval period was represented by a number of possible structures. The site was situated
on the southern face of a low hill in open pastureland, at 98m OD, and the surrounding
countryside was visible in all directions. The relationship and chronology of the archaeological
features will not be fully resolved until radiocarbon dates and the final report are available.
A portion of a curvilinear enclosure ditch was revealed for 40m in the excavated area and
averaged 3m in width and 2m in depth. The ditch was re-cut on at least three occasions and
the enclosure had a projected diameter of 70m. Only a partial area of the enclosure was
excavated but settlement evidence was lacking in terms of artefacts from the ditch and
dwellings within the enclosure. Either evidence for habitation is located outside the road-take
or this enclosure, more probably, was constructed for industrial or agricultural purposes. The
latter is supported by the presence of an industrial building and hut site (see below).
A large L-shaped ditch, which was 3m wide and 1.5m deep, was identified 21m south of the
settlement enclosure ditch and ran for 39m across the excavated area. Iron slag, flint
fragments and burnt bone were identified in the primary fill and a secondary phase of
activity, concentrated at the western terminal, contained large quantities of iron slag as well
as residual flints and a single piece of a shattered rotary quern-stone. A small stone-lined
hearth was discovered in the ditch, at the eastern end, and it contained charcoal, burnt clay
and a blue glass bead fragment. A posthole associated with the hearth also produced burnt
bone and a quartz crystal. The chronological relationship between the two ditches is unclear
but the L-shaped ditch may have demarcated an internal division within the enclosure
possibly to separate industrial and agricultural activities.
A rectangular structure, possibly related to industrial activity, was located centrally within the
site and measured 7m by 2m. It was defined by a series of nine postholes, laid out in a
rectangular plan, and one of the postholes produced a small quantity of iron slag and a
number of worked iron fragments. A series of fifteen stake-holes, to the south-west of the
structure, may have formed a potential post-and-wattle wall, possibly over a number of
phases, while a gravelled surface was identified on the south-eastern side of the building.
Two drip gullies were aligned alongside the building and a number of pits were also
associated with the structure.
A possible hut structure was situated to the north of the L-shaped ditch. It consisted of two
separate, short, arcing gullies that potentially formed a 4m-diameter structure. Two postholes
were cut into the base of one of the gullies and this may have been a structure related to
agricultural activity. Its small size, the lack of a hearth and domestic items suggests that this
was not a dwelling.
A possible field enclosure, which was stratigraphically later than the final re-cut of the L-
shaped ditch, was located 5m east of the hut. The curvilinear ditch formed a sub-oval
enclosure measuring 21m north-south by 18m east-west. No artefacts were uncovered from
the ditch fill so it may have functioned as an animal enclosure.
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