10.01.2014 Views

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

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

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

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

Meath<br />

Fifty two burials were revealed in the central and southern areas <strong>of</strong> the inner and second<br />

enclosures. <strong>The</strong> majority in the central area were extended in simple unlined graves and<br />

aligned west-east. Two <strong>of</strong> the graves may have been covered with stone slabs. Finds<br />

associated with these burials were limited and included a stone ball, a flint flake and<br />

fragments <strong>of</strong> two iron nails. Soil surrounding the two graves where stone slabs were present<br />

produced a sherd <strong>of</strong> E ware. Charcoal has dated two <strong>of</strong> the graves to A.D. 597-673 and A.D.<br />

856-989 which suggests that the cemetery was in use from at least the sixth to tenth<br />

centuries.<br />

Ten badly damaged slab-lined graves were located at the south-eastern section <strong>of</strong> the inner<br />

enclosure and some extended into the second enclosure. As with the burials above, they<br />

were extended and aligned west-east. One <strong>of</strong> the graves utilised a fragment <strong>of</strong> a stone slab<br />

featuring megalithic art. A bronze baluster-headed ring-headed pin was found in the topsoil<br />

above this section <strong>of</strong> the cemetery.<br />

A potential trapezoidal structure was located at the western section <strong>of</strong> the inner enclosure. It<br />

was defined by four roughly circular pits. One <strong>of</strong> the pits appears to have been a post-pipe<br />

and was surrounded by packing clay and a large charcoal rich layer. <strong>The</strong> eastern wall <strong>of</strong> the<br />

post-hole sloped gradually suggesting either that the post was erected at an angle or that it<br />

was used as a structural support. Charcoal and cereal grains were present in its fill and the<br />

former produced a date <strong>of</strong> A.D. 561-652.<br />

Habitation evidence was evident in the south-eastern area between the inner and second<br />

enclosing ditches. Excavation revealed a platform defined by a curving trench and some pits.<br />

Artefacts within the s<strong>of</strong>t dark clay that overlay the platform included a toggle-like object<br />

made from a sperm whale’s tooth, worked horn and a small worked bone fragment.<br />

Agricultural activity within the enclosures was represented by plough-marked stones,<br />

cultivation furrows, trenches and ditches. Radiocarbon date from two <strong>of</strong> the trenches – one <strong>of</strong><br />

which contained a spindle whorl and the other charred seeds – demonstrates that farming<br />

occurred at Knowth Site M between the mid-sixth and late-ninth centuries.<br />

Fig. 255: Excavated areas at Knowth ‘M’, Co. Meath (after Stout & Stout 2008, 8).<br />

549

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!