EMAP_Progress_Reports_2009_2.pdf - The Heritage Council

Westmeath
Ballinderry I, Co. Westmeath
Early Medieval Crannog
Grid reference: N19884262 (219884/242620)
SMR No: WM030-118
Excavation Licence No: N/A
Excavation duration/year: 1932.
Site directors: H. O’N. Hencken (Harvard Archaeological Mission)
The early medieval crannog of Ballinderry no. 1, Co. Westmeath produced occupation
evidence for the tenth and eleventh centuries A.D., with intermittent activity on the site until
the seventeenth century. The crannog survived as a large weed-covered hillock, measuring
33m by 20m, at the north-west end of an original lake that formerly lay between glacial
moraines (close to the Eiscir Ríada routeway across the midlands). At the time of its
investigation this had been drained to marshy and boggy land. The discovery of a Viking
sword in 1928 had brought it to the attention of Adolf Maher of the National Museum. The
site was excavated by the Harvard expedition in 1932. The site has since been the subject of
various important re-interpretations.
Hencken’s interpretation of Ballinderry No. 1
Hencken interpreted the site as a large circular crannog built on a large raft-like central
foundation, with phases of an internal plank palisade and an outer pile palisade, with a large
entrance, a wooden quay and a series of three houses, the earliest of which occupied most of
the island. He believed that the archaeological evidence represented two main phases of
occupation, in the latter part of the tenth century and through the eleventh century. The
rectangular raft-like structure of thick oak logs which lay in the centre of the site, he took to
be the foundation layer. It measured 6m square and was constructed of heavy logs laid
directly on the lake-bed, probably during a dry period. The platform had raised sides and
pegs driven deeply into the clays. The raft was enclosed by small posts describing a circular
structure and timbers were laid radiating out from the centre. Many of these timbers had
complex joints and peg-holes, suggesting they derived from a re-used wooden structure.
Most of the artefacts associated with the raft-structure can be dated to the tenth or early
eleventh century A.D. The finds from the lowest layers, associated with the raft structure,
included two iron socketed and riveted Viking spearheads, an iron bill-hook with a decorated
socket, some nails, hones, a decorated bone comb plate, some wooden implements, a paddle
and a large wooden tub. There was also a small carved and dowelled wooden ‘knee’, possibly
from a plank-built boat. Finds from the next layers, also apparently below House 1, included a
tenth-century bronze ring-headed pin, iron knives, some decorated wooden vessels, a
possible wooden motif-piece and a possible pack-saddle. The most spectacular find was an
ornately carved, yew-wood gaming board, decorated in a style now thought to reflect both
Hiberno-Scandinavian and Anglo-Scandinavian styles (although it was probably made in
Dublin). This gaming board probably dates to the tenth-century. A Viking battle axe was
found outside the crannog and may have dated from these earliest layers. Human remains
are also known from the site.
Hencken interpreted this raft-like platform (and the associated layer of peat, brushwood,
animal bone and ash spreads which covered it) as the foundation for a subsequent large
horseshoe shaped structure and, indeed, the entire crannog. This horseshoe-shaped structure
was interpreted as the earliest house (House 1) for which the crannog was built. A large
hearth was in use at its centre. The finds from the layers apparently comprising the floor of
House 1 included a fine iron Viking sword, its handle decorated with silver and its blade
inscribed with the letters VLFBEHRT. This sword is of a type produced in the ninth century in
the Rhineland and exported throughout Europe; a yew bow, a type of weapon more typical of
Viking warfare tactics than Irish, was also found on site. There were some objects found at
this level, but outside the house, which included an iron plough coulter, iron rings, objects of
leather, lignite, bone and antler. There were also some wooden buckets and lathe-turned
bowls.
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