EMAP_Progress_Reports_2009_2.pdf - The Heritage Council

Mayo
Ardcloon, Co. Mayo
Early Medieval Settlement Enclosure.
Grid Ref: M26879737 (126877/297373)
SMR No: MA070-072
Excavation Licence: N/A
Excavation Duration/Year: 1954.
Site Directors: E. Rynne (University College, Galway).
The site consists of a bank-and-ditched enclosure set on the summit of a hill, and was
threatened with destruction through a farm improvement scheme. The diameter of the site to
the outer edge of the ditch was 58m, enclosing a central area of 40m-45m in diameter (Fig.
216).
Excavation revealed that the lower layers of the bank were constructed from the up-cast of
the ditch, and that the remainder of the bank was built up from material from elsewhere. The
inner face of the bank was supported by a stone revetment, and a deposit of stones in the
bottom of the ditch was interpreted as remains of a revetment for the outer face of the bank.
The ditch appears to have been allowed to gradually silt up, although in the western stretch it
was used as a dump for material from the interior of the site including animal bone and iron
slag. There was little structural evidence in the interior. Two hearths were identified, and a
bronze pin found from one of these provided the only diagnostic dating evidence from the
site. A number of possible postholes were also identified (including one which contained two
sherds of Beaker pottery), but no structural pattern was able to be discerned. The only other
finds of significance from this site included an iron knife blade and four pieces of unrefined
lead ore.
Fig. 216: Plan of excavated area at Ardcloon, Co. Mayo (after Rynne 1956, 203).
Reference:
Rynne, E. 1956. Excavation of a ringfort at Ardcloon, Co. Mayo. Journal of the Royal Society
of Antiquaries of Ireland , 86, 203–14.
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