EMAP_Progress_Reports_2009_2.pdf - The Heritage Council

Meath
Smithstown, Co. Meath
Early Medieval Unenclosed Settlement
Grid reference: O13037049 (313036/270490)
SMR: ME028-022
Excavation Licence No: N/A
Excavation duration: 1988
Site director: M Gowen (Margaret Gowen and Co. Ltd.)
Excavation at Smithstown in advance of the north eastern gas pipeline revealed portions of
four potentially unenclosed souterrains and a series of gullies and ditches to the north which
may have been contemporary. The site was situated at the top of a south facing rise in
ground extending north of the River Nanny.
Souterrain 1 consisted of a gently sloped and cobbled 2.5m long entrance ramp that lead to a
gallery. The latter was exposed for a length of 6m and measured 1 .4m in width. The
souterrain was filled with two deposits and the only finds were fragments of animal bone.
Souterrain 2 had no obvious entrance and was approximately 7m in length. It was 0.6m wide
and up to l.4m deep and had a slightly expanded terminal at the west. A number of postholetype
pits were evident within the souterrain and may have predated its construction. The fill
of one pit produced a decorated bone spindle whorl. The souterrain was constructed into a
ditch-like escarpment at the south side of the site.
The third souterrain – like Souterrain 2 – was also built into the loose fill of the escarpment.
Only a small portion was excavated which revealed a stone structure measuring 5.5m in
length. Souterrain 4 was revealed in the eastern section face of the pipeline trench and was 1
.4m wide and lm high. The side walls were noticeably corbelled inwards and it was backfilled
with three layers of loose, humic, ash and charcoal flecked soil.
The escarpment ran east-west across the pipeline corridor and had a maximum depth of
0.8m at its northern edge and was 1.8m wide. It was filled with two deposits. The upper fill
contained animal bone, shell, ash lenses and charcoal and the lower deposit also contained
some animal bone and shell. No trace of the escarpment survived to the south of the site.
A series of ditches, gullies and related features were revealed to the north of the souterrains.
An annular gully – of which only a quarter was excavated – was present and measured
between 7m and 8m in diameter. A sherd of E ware was recovered from its fill. A keyholeshaped
potential cereal-drying kiln abutted the inner edge of the gully close to its southern
and only terminal. Keyhole-shaped cereal-drying kilns usually date to the latter stages of the
early medieval period and the late middle-ages so this probably post dates the construction of
the annular gully. The gully potentially enclosed an early medieval dwelling or structure which
was abandoned centuries before the construction of the kiln and which has not survived
archaeologically.
A second curvilinear gully, which was traced for 11m, lay to the south-west of gully above. No
finds were recovered from its fill. The relationships between the escarpment and gullies is
unclear as is their relationship with the souterrains although we know that Souterrains 2 and
3 were built into the escarpment ditch fill and so must be chronologically later.
(No plans were available for this site)
Reference:
Gowen, M. 1988:055. Smithstown, Co. Meath. www.excavations.ie.
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