EMAP_Progress_Reports_2009_2.pdf - The Heritage Council

Mayo
Lislackagh, Co. Mayo
Early Medieval Settlement Enclosure.
Grid Ref: M35679758 (13567/29758)
SMR No: MA071-042
Excavation Licence: 92E0152
Excavation Duration/Year: September 1992 – March 1993.
Site Director: G. Walsh (for Mayo County Council).
The site consisted of a severely truncated enclosure (38.5m by 39.5m in internal diameter)
which had been almost completely levelled in the late-1970s (Fig. 223); excavation was
required in 1992 to facilitate the construction of the Swinford by-pass.
Excavation through the ditch recorded a stony basal layer, with subsequent gradual in-fill
layers. Animal bones and iron slag were recovered from these contexts. Excavation in the
interior of the site revealed evidence for three roundhouses (Fig. 224). House 1 was the
largest (4.6m in diameter), and contained the burnt remains of wattle-and-daub. A number of
possible internal postholes were also identified, potentially belonging to roof supports. Finds
from this building include quantities of animal bone (751 fragments), an (unfinished?) blue
glass bead, part of a bronze pin head, fragments of bronze, and iron slag. House 1 appears
to have been burnt down, but this does not appear to have been the case with House 2
(3.6m in diameter). Finds from this house include a fragment of bronze and three blue glass
beads, as well as quantities of animal bone (499 fragments). House 3 (3.9m in diameter) was
the most truncated structure. The fill of the foundation trench for this building included a
fragment of iron slag with limestone inclusions which was interpreted as refuse from a failed
smelt. An iron smelting furnace pit was later identified on site. Iron slag and smelted iron
nodules were recovered from this area.
A number of un-stratified, but diagnostic early medieval artefacts, were recovered from the
topsoil. These included two iron ‘hooks’, an iron knife blade, a yellow glass bead, a calcite
bead, and a fragment of a lignite bracelet. Analysis of the faunal assemblage suggests that
cattle dominated (with almost 50% of the identified bones). Surprisingly horse was next in
order (with almost 40%), although this may be due to taphonomic survival. There were
variations between the three houses, for example in House 2 there were only three sheep
bones, and no horse bones, whereas in House 3, there were only horse and pig bones.
Although the site appears to be typologically early medieval – a supposition which is
supported by the material culture – the dates from the three houses on site are Iron Age (see
below). It is possible that the houses substantially pre-dated the enclosure, and any
perceived relationship between them was merely coincidental. Given the early medieval
nature of some of the finds from these structures, that is an unlikely option. It thus seems
most probable that these dates were retrieved from charcoal from structural timbers, and as
such, these dates refer, not to the felling date of the tree, but rather to a date when the tree
was still growing.
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