EMAP_Progress_Reports_2009_2.pdf - The Heritage Council

Cork
low-lying marshy location of Scandinavian Cork has produced significant waterfront
revetments but evidence for enclosing banks or walls is more limited.
Archaeological Evidence
The South Island- the main area of Scandinavian settlement- appears to have originally been
a marshy intermittent land bank in the tidal estuary of the river. Between the late eleventh
and late twelfth century, the Scandinavian community initiated an active phase of land
reclamation at the island by constructing timber revetments and introducing estuarine clays
into the settlement area. The reclaimed clays not only raised the ground level above the high
tide but also created a solid foundation of material upon which to build property divisions and
buildings.
Described below are excavations on the South Island which have produced evidence for the
deliberate introduction of estuarine clays and the construction of timber revetments.
The Christchurch excavations (1975-77) to the east of South Main Street revealed that the
estuarine clays were ‘thicker towards the east’ (Cleary 1997, 29) and were interspersed with
planks and timber track-ways to create firm footings (Hurley 2003c, 183). The majority of the
excavated sites which revealed thick deposits of estuarine clay were located some distance
from the main street or crest of the South Island, suggesting that these deposits were
introduced in an attempt to level up the sloping ground to the rear of the properties (Hurley
2003c, 183).
The Christchurch excavations also confirmed that the ground towards the centre of the
excavated site was higher than either the northern or southern sections. This would also
indicate that the initial early twelfth century settlement on the South Island was on low
mounds or platforms protected from tidal flooding by timber revetments (Hurley 2003c, 183).
Prior to the erection of an early twelfth-century timber fence/revetment at Tuckey Street, a
layer of over 1.2m of fluvial-derived silty clay was deposited on the site (O’Donnell 2003, 13-
14). It may have been deliberately introduced by channelling or allowing floodwater to settle
on the site (Hurley 2003c, 182-83). A series of silty clays up to 1.5m in thickness with
intermediary occupation deposits and timbers platforms were subsequently deliberately
introduced onto the site in an attempt to raise the ground level above that of the high tide.
The activity began after the erection of the timber fence c. A.D. 1115-1122 and continued till
sometime after A.D. 1145.
At least one metre of fluvial-derived silty clay underlay the first occupation phase at the site
at the junction of Hanover street/South Main Street (Cleary 2003, 31-34; Hurley 2003c, 183)
and may have also been introduced by channelling or allowing floodwater to settle on the
site. The deposit was augured to determine its depth and a timber beam was recorded at the
base at a depth of 1.10m. It was suggested that it may represent a platform like those
recorded at Tuckey Street which provided a solid footing in the soft clays during the
deposition process.
Prior to the erection of a twelfth-century east-west stave-built boundary plot, a layer of
fluvial-derived silty clay (0.60m thick) was uncovered at the lowest levels reached at 11-13
Washington Street (McCutcheon 2003, 45-47). The deposit was sterile and was interpreted as
being introduced to the site in order to raise ground levels. A possible drainage ditch
belonging to a subsequent twelfth/mid thirteenth century phase was also uncovered at the
southern end of the site and was defined at its north end by one of two parallel east-west
stave-built fences.
An excavation at the junction of Washington Street and South Main Street at the northern
end of the South Island uncovered two large oak revetments aligned north-south and set 2m
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