EMAP_Progress_Reports_2009_2.pdf - The Heritage Council

Meath
a thick layer of charcoal-flecked soil and ash, sometimes compact with charcoal and bones,
sometimes grey and smooth with burnt bones, charcoal and iron flecks. A significant
industrial feature included a pit, cut into the peat and filled with ash. A layer of gravel was
spread over the pit and a stone-lined rectangular hearth was built upon it. The hearth was
surrounded by post-holes, probably from a spit with a pit to one side (in which was a large
rotary quern fragment). There was also a bowl furnace, being a keyhole shaped pit set in
gravel and lined with mud, while it had been carefully back-filled with sand. There were also
a series of un-phased middens outside the site’s Palisade 2 on the north, east and west sides.
These layers of habitation debris were evidently the ‘rubbish tip’ of the crannog. They were
rich in animal bones, and they also produced a large number of small finds, including a
pennanular brooch, small pieces of gold filigree and objects of wood and leather, including a
separate-bladed shovel.
Phase X (probably dating c. A.D. 720-748) was primarily significant for the evidence for
metalworking and industrial production that it produced. The crannog’s occupation surface
was built of a basal layer of re-deposited peat laid on the site, on top of which there was a
roundhouse located between two metalworking areas (1 and 2). There was also an entrance
to the crannog on the northeast side, with a timber pathway laid on peat, one re-used timber
providing a dendrochronological date of A.D. 625. The house was circular, with a double
post-and-wattle wall and measured about 7.5m in diameter. Its floor surface was of redeposited
peat and ashes, although this had mostly been removed. Metalworking Area 1 was
situated between the house and the entrance and was defined by a spread of charcoal, 4.2m
by 4m, 0.06m in thickness, with thick chunks of charcoal, earth and ash mixed in. There was
also a cesspit (1.7m by 1.3m) at the edge of the metalworking area, re-cut on two occasions,
which produced layers of dung interspersed with layers of straw and leaves. Finds from
Metalworking Area 1 included a pottery vessel, pieces of baked clay, crucible sherds, and
fragments of two-piece clay moulds and motif-pieces. There was also an iron stake, used for
beating metal. Metalworking Area 2 was larger and was found to the west of the house. It
produced four major features, a furnace, a stone-lined area of clay, a spread of compacted
pebbles and a dump of metalworking debris. These features were all clearly permanent,
intended for re-use as the furnace was filled with sand and gravel, enabling people to return
to work there. Finds from Metalworking Area 2 included slag, a whetstone, eight flints, a lump
of yellow enamel, amber beads and chips, a bronze pin and button, two iron knives, a head
of a bone pin and two cut pieces of horn. There were also 67 crucible sherds, three heating
trays and 600 mould fragments (1.7 kg in total weight). They included 400 featureless mould
fragments, 100 plain impressed pieces and 60 decorated pieces. The moulds were used for
the production of brooches, mounts, studs (of types found on decorated shrines) and other
decorated objects. Ingots were introduced onto the site, placed in crucibles, melted in the
furnace and poured into the moulds. The furnace was used on at least eight occasions. The
moulds may have been cooled nearby on the pebbled area, post-casting work and mould
making may have been carried out on a pink clay and cobbled spread. The spatial
organisation of the metalworkers’ areas can thus be recognised.
In Phase Y, (dated c. A.D. 748 - c. A.D. 780), the crannog had two roundhouses, a large oak
palisade and a furnace-pit, with finds including crucibles, a clay mould, clay nozzles and a
bronze ingot. The palisade was of hewn and cleft oak tightly placed together in a U-shaped
trench. The palisade construction dates to A.D. 748 and therefore comes at least 180 years
after the first occupation of the site. The palisade revets a layer of re-deposited peat upon
which the houses were constructed. The largest house (Roundhouse 1) was a substantial
circular structure, 11.2m in external diameter (10m internal diameter) with double walls and a
pennanular-shaped, laid foundation of reddish-brown gravel internally and an external ridge
0.26m in width, 0.15m in thickness. There were at least 250 internal posts, representing
internal partitions, beds and benches. There were several phases of hearths, and 20 spreads
of ash and animal bone (rake-outs from the hearth) were scattered through the occupation
layer. The floor deposits were thickest (up to 0.12m in thickness) on the south side near the
hearths, and were thinnest on the north side. The earliest hearth was substantial, being a
stone-lined rectangular hearth and was followed by fireplaces added to the east. Most of the
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