EMAP_Progress_Reports_2009_2.pdf - The Heritage Council

Meath
enclosure. This ditch contained a large number of dumped or naturally accumulated deposits.
Animal bone was retrieved from many contexts and a quantity of land snail was also
identified. Other finds included Late Roman Amphorae (Bii ware) pottery and fragments of
iron objects. The ditch provided two radiocarbon dates of AD 569-671 and AD 559-662.
The last group of 12 burials may have been roughly contemporary with the Phase III
enclosure. Infants – for the first time – were interred and this was a mixed cemetery that
possibly represented an extended family across a generation. The graves were a mix of dug-,
stone- and wood-lined examples and they cut through one of the Phase II enclosure’s eastern
ditches. The burial of an adult male was dated to A.D. 687-895 while another was dated to
A.D. 540-654.
The final and fourth enclosure phase consisted of a re-cut to the Phase III enclosure and an
extension of the site southwards in the form of a triangular-shaped enclosure.
F25 – This ditch measured 58.5m by 4.50m by 1.30m and replaced and removed much of the
eastern side of the Phase III enclosure. It contained eight deposits which included animal
bone, burnt bone, snail shell and seashell. Finds included flint debitage, a flint end scraper
and a copper-alloy spiral-headed ring-pin. Late medieval pottery, an iron spur fragment and
post medieval pottery was retrieved from the upper fills which demonstrated that the ditch
was open for a long period.
F360 – This represented the western part of the Phase IV enclosure ditch and measured 54m
by 2.35m by 1.10m. It similarly obliterated much of the Phase III enclosure on this side and
contained seven deposits of mostly washed-in sediment. Charcoal was present as were some
un-charred seeds which were dated to A.D. 402-568. The lower deposits contained animal
bone and preserved organic material including wood. Artefacts included a wooden stave
fragment and a fragment of Late Roman Amphorae (Bii ware).
A number of features – other than the burials – were situated within the enclosures. Some
postholes were clustered towards the centre of the site but they did not form any coherent
structural plan. They may have supported grave markers such as large wooden crosses. A
square-shaped enclosure – formed by two L-shaped ditches – was located to the immediate
north of the Phase I and II enclosures and measured 6m by 6m. The entrance to the Phase II
enclosure was directly opposite the square enclosure entrance. Its ditches contained
inclusions of burnt and un-burnt animal bone and charcoal. Artefacts included an iron
fragment, possibly from a knife, Late Roman Amphorae (Bii ware) and a twisted copper-alloy
fragment. The exact function of this feature is unclear but it may have marked the site of a
shrine or small wooden church. One hearth and a large number of pits were also scattered
throughout the interior of the site but their relationship to other features was unclear.
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