EMAP_Progress_Reports_2009_2.pdf - The Heritage Council

Clare
Killulla, Co. Clare
Early Medieval Settlement Enclosure
Grid Ref: R40056504 (140054/165049)
SMR No: N/A
Excavation Licence: 01E0022
Excavation Duration/Year: May - June 2000; March 2001
Site Director: D. Murphy (ACS Ltd.)
Topsoil stripping at Killulla in advance of road improvement revealed a multi-phase
archaeological landscape comprising a late Bronze Age building, hearth and fulachta fiadh, an
early medieval ditched enclosure and a small post-medieval metalworking complex. The
excavated area was located in low-lying flat marginal ground in Killulla townland, south of the
town of Newmarket on Fergus.
Charcoal from the gully fill and posthole fill of a circular post-built hut and external hearth
produced Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age dates (see below). This structure was later
truncated by the early medieval ditched enclosure. A fulachta fiadh on the eastern side of the
site was radiocarbon dated to a similar period (see below).
A ditched enclosure was discovered along the western side of the site and extended out
beyond the limit of excavation (Fig. 52). It was only partially excavated and had a diameter
of 38m internally and 42m externally. An entrance was identified along the south-eastern
perimeter and a posthole 0.3m west of the southern terminus may have supported some
form of gate. Another posthole of similar size and construction was excavated 2m to the west
and may have also been related to it.
The cut of the enclosing ditch had a profile varying from a U- to an almost V-shape and was
1.3m-2.8m wide with an average depth of 1.25m. The ditch appears to have been refilled
with the same material that had been originally dug from it. The excavated material from the
ditch may have then been deposited within the enclosure to form a bank. The lack of silting
with the base of the ditch indicates that this material from the bank was re-deposited back
into the ditch shortly after this event, with a dumping of stones being concentrated within the
vicinity of its terminals.
Finds from the enclosing ditch included a fragment of a rotary quern, a possible socketed
spearhead and fragments of two human skulls as well as a large quantity of animal bone. The
faunal remains were dominated by the bones of cattle, sheep/goat, horse, pig as well as dog
and deer and displayed evidence for butchery marks. A dated charcoal sample from the
secondary fill of the ditch indicated that the ditch was backfilled in the eleventh/twelfth
century (see below).
The interior of the enclosure was only partially investigated and the few features from this
area mostly comprised post-medieval drainage ditches, furrows and pits of unknown date.
Other than two other internal postholes, no other features could be possibly associated with
the occupation phase of the ditched enclosure though many may survive outside the limit of
the excavation area.
A post-medieval rectangular metalworking stone structure (7m X 3.5m) trunctuated the
north-western section of the ditched enclosure. Associated with it were two internal hearths,
a small external keyhole shaped furnace and a network of drains situated mainly to the west.
Finds from the features includes post-medieval pottery, a coin dated to 1689, fragments of
iron artifacts, clay pipes and glass as well as charcoal, bone and slag.
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