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

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

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Meath<br />

miscellaneous scraps <strong>of</strong> metal. A sherd <strong>of</strong> E ware was found in the enclosure area and<br />

suggests a network <strong>of</strong> trade and exchange between high-status sites in Brega and possibly<br />

further-a-field.<br />

A potential outer enclosure ditch approximately 14m west <strong>of</strong> the settlement-cemetery<br />

enclosure was detected. It followed the same curvature for a length <strong>of</strong> 28.4m and was 3.4m<br />

in width and up to 1.4m in depth. Iron slag was retrieved from one <strong>of</strong> its four fills. A large U-<br />

shaped shallow pit which contained animal bone was located between the inner and outer<br />

enclosure<br />

ditches.<br />

A number <strong>of</strong> linear ditches and cereal-drying kilns were representative <strong>of</strong> agricultural activity<br />

at Ratoath to the east <strong>of</strong> the enclosure. <strong>The</strong> former produced few artefacts but substantial<br />

quantities <strong>of</strong> animal bone were present. <strong>The</strong> ditches formed roughly rectangular enclosures<br />

and were dated between the fifth and eighth centuries. Several variously-shaped cerealdrying<br />

kilns were also identified to the east <strong>of</strong> the enclosure and they produced large<br />

quantities <strong>of</strong> cereal grains. A large example with a baffle stone was dated to A.D. 860-1018<br />

while a teardrop-shaped and a figure-<strong>of</strong>-eight-shaped kiln both produced Iron Age dates.<br />

Metallurgical activity – mostly ironworking – was evident in a number <strong>of</strong> areas surrounding<br />

the settlement-cemetery. A large volume <strong>of</strong> iron smithing slag was recovered from the fills <strong>of</strong><br />

two L-shaped ditches immediately to the north <strong>of</strong> the enclosure. A substantial ditch, which<br />

extended from the south-east side <strong>of</strong> enclosure, produced a large quantity <strong>of</strong> iron smithing<br />

slag. A portion <strong>of</strong> a lignite bracelet was also uncovered in the ditch fill. Two dates from the<br />

ditch fills ranged from A.D. 427-608 to A.D. 637-772. This larger ditch formed an annexe with<br />

two other smaller ditches which enclosed a large charcoal spread, a small keyhole-shaped kiln<br />

(dated to A.D. 431-600). Iron smithing slag was again recovered in large quantities from this<br />

area. It appears that smithing was undertaken at specific areas outside the enclosure while<br />

an absence <strong>of</strong> iron smelting slag suggests this occurred further away from the site and<br />

probably nearer to where raw materials such as bog ore was sourced.<br />

Non-ferrous metalworking potentially occurred immediately to the west <strong>of</strong> the enclosure.<br />

Several small features, which were badly truncated by modern farm work, produced a lead<br />

ingot and a crucible sherd.<br />

Ratoath was a multi-period site which developed from a prehistoric burial place into a much<br />

larger early medieval settlement, agricultural and industrial centre. Many phases were<br />

identified within the enclosure and its neighbouring field systems and cereal-drying kilns.<br />

<strong>The</strong>refore, its inhabitants were involved in a range <strong>of</strong> farming and industrial activities across<br />

many centuries in tandem with the site’s use as both a dwelling place and a place for burying<br />

the dead.<br />

573

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