EMAP_Progress_Reports_2009_2.pdf - The Heritage Council

Louth
Millockstown, Co. Louth
Early Medieval Settlement-cemetery
Grid reference: N977875 (29770/28750)
SMR: LH017-054
Excavation Licence No: N/A
Excavation duration: October – December 1980
Site director: C. Manning (OPW)
An excavation was conducted at Millockstown after work on the land, by the owner, revealed
part of a souterrain. The excavation also revealed another souterrain and multi-phase
settlement enclosure activity consisting of a D-shaped enclosure, which was replaced by a
smaller circular enclosure, and a final and larger, D-shaped enclosure, which replaced the first
two enclosures. The latter was associated with the souterrains and a cemetery. The site was
situated on a natural terrace, at 121m OD, near the top of a southward-facing slope. The site
was not fully excavated and the archaeological features were identified in a number of
trenches across the site (Fig. 213).
The Phase I D-shaped enclosure (65m by 56m) was defined by a ditch which averaged 1.4m
in width and had a maximum depth of 1.5m. No evidence for a bank survived. It enclosed
three spreads of occupation material including a hearth and charcoal. Charcoal from one of
the occupation spreads was radiocarbon dated to A.D. 322-609. The only find from this
phase, from another habitation spread, was the terminal and part of the ring of a zoomorphic
penannular brooch which dates to the third century. Therefore, based on the brooch and
radiocarbon date, it appears that the Phase I enclosure was constructed in the third or fourth
century A.D.
During Phase II, a smaller circular enclosure replaced, and was constructed centrally within,
the earlier D-shaped enclosure. It measured 37m in diameter and enclosed a hearth and a
spread of carbonised grain. The ditch averaged 2.7m in width and was 1.5m deep and the
remains of the bank were evident. The only finds from the ditch were animal bone and a
large iron nail. No radiocarbon dates were available for this phase so all that can be surmised
is that the enclosure was constructed in between Phase I and Phase III.
Phase III witnessed the construction of a final, and much bigger, D-shaped enclosure which
replaced the first two enclosures. It measured 40m by 100m and was associated with two
souterrains, a cemetery and two pits. The ditch measured between 2.8m and 4m in width
and had a maximum depth of 2m. The only finds from the ditch were animal bones. Charcoal
from the ditch returned a very broad radiocarbon date of A.D. 576-1024.
The cemetery has been ascribed to the third phase because it cut through the Phase I and
Phase II occupation layers. It measured 20m by 12m and was roughly centrally-placed within
Enclosure III. It was only partially excavated. The majority of graves were stone or slab-lined
and many cut into earlier ones. The burials were extended inhumations and aligned with their
heads to the west. One of the graves utilised a quern fragment in its construction while
objects found in association with the graves, but not deliberate grave-goods, included an iron
nail and needle.
A word of caution must be assigned to the dating of the burial ground. Many similar sites
have shown that the cemetery represented the first phase of activity and that settlement and
agriculture then developed. It may be that the unexcavated part of the cemetery contains the
earliest graves which could be contemporary with the construction of the first enclosure. A
spread within the Phase I enclosure was dated but the ditch was not. The exact chronology
of the site remains difficult to determine without radiocarbon dates from the enclosure
ditches and burials.
Two souterrains were associated with Phase III. Souterrain 1 was of dry-stone construction
and consisted of a short curving upper passage which led to a lower passage and a circular
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