EMAP_Progress_Reports_2009_2.pdf - The Heritage Council

Meath
Cloncowan, Co. Meath
Early Medieval Settlement/Cemetery
Grid reference: N75494931 (275497/249316)
SMR No: ME042-031
Excavation License No: 02E0883
Excavation duration: June – July 2002
Site director: C. Baker (Margaret Gowen and Co. Ltd.)
An initial topographical survey at Cloncowan in advance of the gas pipeline to the west
identified a distinct platform approximately 30m in diameter and 0.5m high (Fig. 232).
Excavation of its eastern quadrant revealed 34 features of archaeological interest. The results
indicate that a Bronze Age ringditch became the focus of a burial ground during the early
medieval period. The site was on the east-facing slope of a north-south gravel ridge.
The main focus of the site was a penannular ditch. Its western arc extended for 3.4m and
contained seven fills. Three pieces of chert and a piece of flint were recovered from its fill.
The longer eastern arc extended for 10m and three phases were identified in the ditch. The
primary fill included charcoal-rich, silty clay which contained frequent burnt and un-burnt
bone. A number of artefacts were retrieved including a bone spindle-whorl. The second
deposit was identified as the result of slippage. The final phase, which incorporated a re-cut
of the ditch, contained 13 burials.
Three further graves were enclosed by the penannular ditch. There was no consistency in
their alignment and eight were interred in graves that truncated the cut of the ditch. Ear-muff
stones were present by the head in one grave while another contained a pillow-stone. The
burials have been preliminarily identified as five adults, seven juveniles and four neonates.
Pits, postholes and gullies were located to the south-west of the penannular enclosure. It is
unclear as yet if they are contemporary with the cemetery. A wide, shallow ditch – 24.5m in
length and 5.9m wide – was found downslope. It produced three sherds of Leinster cooking
ware indicating later medieval activity at the site. Thirty six artefacts were retrieved from this
site and most were associated with the western arc of the penannular ditch. These included
iron pins, a needle, chain links, a bone pin and a fragment of a bone pendant.
Three radiocarbon dates from Cloncowan indicate that the ringditch was constructed during
the Bronze Age and re-visited and adopted as a cemetery in the early medieval period. (see
below).
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