EMAP_Progress_Reports_2009_2.pdf - The Heritage Council

Westmeath
Hencken believed that, after a brief period of occupation, House I sank into the lakebed
sediments and it was covered by more layers of peat and brushwood. He believed that two
further houses (Houses II and III, probably one house in reality) were then constructed at
one corner of the site, but the central hearth continued in use. Finds from these layers
included a Viking silver kite-shaped brooch, bronze pins, iron chain links, a millstone, bone
comb fragments, a wooden dug-out boat and wooden tubs and hoops. The only find from the
floor of House II was an iron knife. House III produced a bronze pin, a bone needle and a
wooden dugout boat. Finds from the central hearth included a bronze pennanular brooch and
pin, bone, iron, glass, wood and antler objects. The wooden quay structure outside the
crannog produced an iron woodworking axe and a wooden tub.
The excavator believed that House II and House III then fell out of use and were covered
with a layer of clay, some planks on this surface may indicate the construction of a fourth
house (House IV). There were two hearths and ash spreads at this level. Finds from these
strata included various objects, such as bronze pins, buckles, querns, and a large iron sideaxe
or hewing axe (probably of a medieval date), hones and bone combs and pins, and
objects of wood and leather. The site was covered by a layer of gravel and another deep
layer of soil. A hearth was found in this top layer, with finds of coins indicating seventeenthcentury
occupation. Ballinderry crannog No. 1 produced an interesting range of seventeenthcentury
objects, such as pottery, several coins dating to about 1690, a brass-button, glass
linen smoothers, lead bullets, some of which were probably being made there, and several
fragments of clay pipes. There was also a range of metal and organic finds from un-stratified
deposits outside the palisade, the most important of which were a tenth-century copper-alloy
hanging lamp and an array of wooden objects.
Lynn’s re-interpretation
Chris Lynn’s stratigraphical and structural re-interpretations of the early phases of the site
indicated that it comprised two crannogs. In his opinion, Hencken’s ‘House 1’ was itself the
primary crannog (Lynn’s ‘Crannog 1’), defined by the horseshoe-plan area of timbers
strengthened by small piles with a smaller, roughly circular wicker house (Hencken’s ‘hearth
surround’, measuring 5m in diameter). The horseshoe timbers were actually the open-air
decking around the circular house. Lynn believed that the outer pile palisade derived from a
later period of occupation and was not contemporary with this early crannog. This later
period of occupation involved the construction of a second, larger crannog (Lynn’s ‘Crannog
2’) directly over ‘Crannog 1. ‘Crannog 2’ had a larger palisade, two rectangular houses built
near the edge of the site while a large open-air ash spread accumulated across the centre
(although Newman interpreted this as a house floor). This enlargement could have come
shortly after the construction of his ‘Crannog 1’.
Newman’s and Johnson’s re-interpretations
Newman came to a similar conclusion through his re-analysis of the site and the typological
characteristics of its finds. He also proposed House 1 was itself a crannog and that the
circular hearth was a roundhouse. In his opinion, the crannog had a pile palisade, which was
later reinforced by plank palisade, at the same time as which one entrance was blocked up.
Ruth Johnson has also recently carried out a detailed re-evaluation of the early layers of the
site and has re-examined the finds, particularly in terms of their stratigraphical context.
Ballinderry No. 1 will now be summarised in terms of its likely sequence of development.
Phase 1 – Pre-crannog occupation (late tenth century AD)
Phase 1 saw the building of a rectangular log platform (6m by 6m), defined at its edges by a
circular palisade (7m in diameter) of posts. This earliest occupation was built on the lake
gyttas at a time when lake levels were low, possibly during a dry period. The rectangular
platform was constructed of planks and beams laid in a rectilinear and radial fashion, with
layers of peat and brushwood (up to seven layers), consisting of a likely habitation deposit of
accumulated bones and peats. It had a raised edge, of horizontal beams. There was a
possible entrance to the north, represented by a gap in the post ring. There were two
superimposed hearths (layers of grey clay and charcoal). It is possible that this was actually a
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