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Mayo<br />

Ardcloon, Co. Mayo<br />

Early Medieval Settlement Enclosure.<br />

Grid Ref: M26879737 (126877/297373)<br />

SMR No: MA070-072<br />

Excavation Licence: N/A<br />

Excavation Duration/Year: 1954.<br />

Site Directors: E. Rynne (University College, Galway).<br />

<strong>The</strong> site consists <strong>of</strong> a bank-and-ditched enclosure set on the summit <strong>of</strong> a hill, and was<br />

threatened with destruction through a farm improvement scheme. <strong>The</strong> diameter <strong>of</strong> the site to<br />

the outer edge <strong>of</strong> the ditch was 58m, enclosing a central area <strong>of</strong> 40m-45m in diameter (Fig.<br />

231).<br />

Excavation revealed that the lower layers <strong>of</strong> the bank were constructed from the up-cast <strong>of</strong><br />

the ditch, and that the remainder <strong>of</strong> the bank was built up from material from elsewhere. <strong>The</strong><br />

inner face <strong>of</strong> the bank was supported by a stone revetment, and a deposit <strong>of</strong> stones in the<br />

bottom <strong>of</strong> the ditch was interpreted as remains <strong>of</strong> a revetment for the outer face <strong>of</strong> the bank.<br />

<strong>The</strong> ditch appears to have been allowed to gradually silt up, although in the western stretch it<br />

was used as a dump for material from the interior <strong>of</strong> the site including animal bone and iron<br />

slag. <strong>The</strong>re was little structural evidence in the interior. Two hearths were identified, and a<br />

bronze pin found from one <strong>of</strong> these provided the only diagnostic dating evidence from the<br />

site. A number <strong>of</strong> possible postholes were also identified (including one which contained two<br />

sherds <strong>of</strong> Beaker pottery), but no structural pattern was able to be discerned. <strong>The</strong> only other<br />

finds <strong>of</strong> significance from this site included an iron knife blade and four pieces <strong>of</strong> unrefined<br />

lead ore.<br />

Fig. 231: Plan <strong>of</strong> excavated area at Ardcloon, Co. Mayo (after Rynne 1956, 203).<br />

Reference:<br />

Rynne, E. 1956. Excavation <strong>of</strong> a ringfort at Ardcloon, Co. Mayo. Journal <strong>of</strong> the Royal Society<br />

<strong>of</strong> Antiquaries <strong>of</strong> Ireland , 86, 203–14.<br />

488

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