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AR01055_EMAP_Gazetteer_of_Sites_4-2_10.pdf - The Heritage ...

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Down<br />

Castleskreen Co. Down<br />

Early Medieval Settlement Enclosure.<br />

Grid Ref: J47304027 (34730/34027)<br />

SMR No: DOW 037:037<br />

Excavation Licence: N/A<br />

Excavation Duration/Year: 1952-3; 1955.<br />

Site Director: C.W. Dickinson & D.M Waterman (Archaeological Survey <strong>of</strong> Northern<br />

Ireland).<br />

<strong>The</strong> site consisted <strong>of</strong> an earthwork set on the top <strong>of</strong> a drumlin. <strong>The</strong> site was excavated in a number<br />

<strong>of</strong> small digs between 1952 and 1955 in order to inform the Archaeological Survey <strong>of</strong> Co. Down.<br />

Excavation revealed an early medieval enclosure (34.5m in diameter) which was later re-modelled<br />

into an Anglo-Norman motte (Fig. 92). This enclosure underwent two phases <strong>of</strong> construction. In the<br />

first phase, the site was enclosed within a ditch, but with no presence <strong>of</strong> an accompanying bank. <strong>The</strong><br />

dominant feature in the interior was an extensive hollow (7m wide and 1.8m deep) which was<br />

interpreted as a watering-hole for cattle. Finds from the occupation layer were limited to a few animal<br />

bones, a rim <strong>of</strong> souterrain ware, and a chipped sandstone disc.<br />

In the second phase, a bank was raised around the site. Although only approximately 0.9m high, this<br />

bank was augmented by a timber palisade (indicated by the presence <strong>of</strong> a number <strong>of</strong> post-holes)<br />

located on the inner slope. Sherds <strong>of</strong> souterrain ware were recovered from this occupation phase, as<br />

were a blue glass bead, a fragment <strong>of</strong> a shale/lignite bracelet, and a fragment <strong>of</strong> a quernstone.<br />

Fig. 92: Plan <strong>of</strong> excavations at Castleskreen, Co. Down (after Dickinson & Waterman 1959, 68).<br />

Reference:<br />

Dickinson, C. W., & Waterman, D. M. 1959. Excavations <strong>of</strong> a rath with motte at Castleskreen, Co.<br />

Down. Ulster Journal <strong>of</strong> Archaeology (Third Series), 22, 67–82.<br />

190

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