EMAP_Progress_Reports_2009_2.pdf - The Heritage Council

Meath
spreads of animal bone were usually found in the vicinity of these hearths. Finds from the
large roundhouse included eight tanged iron knives, three iron key handles, a socketed iron
spearhead, a bone spear-point, stone hones, iron nails, spindle whorls. The house also
produced such finds as a bronze pseudo-pennanular ring, a spiral headed bronze ring, two
ringed iron pins, ball and spatula headed bone pins, two bronze finger rings, bone comb
plates, glass beads, eight jet bracelet fragments, a bone gaming piece, 114 pieces of flint
(many being strike-a-lights) and a bronze drinking horn terminal. The second house was
smaller, approximately 5.2m in diameter and it also had a stone-lined hearth, but the
occupation layer was less apparent. There was a bowl-shaped furnace to the west of the
house, lined with lake marls. Finds associated with the furnace included three complete
crucibles, 50 crucible sherds, three heating trays, a clay mould fragment, baked clay nozzles
and a bronze ingot. Many of the crucibles bore evidence of being held by an iron tongs.
Phase Z (probably dating c. A.D. 780 – 810) was the uppermost, surviving occupation
surface, as it had been greatly disturbed by modern bulldozing during attempted land
reclamation in the 1980s. There were the remains of an oak palisade, a foundation layer of
re-deposited peat and a single charcoal spread. The palisade was constructed of young oak
roundwood trunks. These posts probably had wattles woven around them where they stood
above the ground. The crannog would have been 36-40m across. Finds from this layer
included three tanged iron knives, two complete crucibles and sherds of others, part of a
rotary quern-stone, a bone comb fragment, a glass bead, a chunk of amber and four jet
bracelet fragments.
Moynagh Lough is both a well-preserved multi-period archaeological site and a remarkable
example of an early medieval lrish crannog. The archaeological evidence of a large house,
fine metalwork and imported items suggest that Moynagh Lough was a high-status
settlement, particularly by the mid-eighth century AD. Recent historical research suggests
that Moynagh Lough itself may be identified as a place known as Loch Dé Mundech and that
its crannog may well have been an aristocratic or lordly site of the Mugdorne. Its long-term
excavation has revealed several important things about early medieval settlement
continuities, on-site domestic and industrial activities and the status and lives of its
inhabitants. The crannog was apparently occupied continuously c. A.D. 600 - 810, a period of
some two hundred years. Although there may have been short phases of abandonment, it
seems that every generation or so, the entire crannog was reconstructed and ever larger
houses placed upon it.
The site seems to have been used both for domestic occupation and for various metalworking
practices. The presence of furnaces, copper-ingots, crucibles, heating trays and baked clay
nozzles strongly indicates on-site metal production (melting bronze and smelting copper and
tin) and the numerous clay mould fragments indicate that a wide range of bronze artefacts
were actually being made at Moynagh Lough. Amber, gold wire and enamel found on the site
indicate the production of fine jewelry. There was also some iron working on the site since
slag, a furnace base and hydrated ferric oxide were found within the large house. Other
crafts practiced on-site include the working of wood, leather, bone and antler, while there
may also have been glass working, as glass rods, a vitrified glass bracelet and an unfinished
glass bead are known. The crannog dwellers obtained several other fine items through longdistance
trade networks, such as the Merovingian glass vessels, jet bracelets, amber and tin.
The diet and economy of the site has been revealed by studies of the large faunal
assemblage. There were large numbers of cattle, pig and sheep, with smaller numbers of
horse, red deer, cat and dog. Dairy cows predominated in the bovine bone record and were
only killed when they had past their prime while male calves were slaughtered at a young
age. Most of the cattle were slaughtered off-site and dressed meat taken on to it for feasting
or normal daily food consumption. It is clear that the surrounding rolling hills were well
populated with good grazing land for large herds of cattle. The presence of rotary querns on
the crannog also suggests some measure of arable farming. It is likely that the crannog was
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