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Sligo
‘Rathtinaun’ (Lough Gara td.), Co. Sligo
Early Medieval Crannog.
Grid Reference: M73019994 (173014/299948)
SMR No: SL047-021
Excavation Licence: N/A.
Excavation Duration/Year: 1953; 1954; 1955.
Site Director: J. Raftery (National Museum of Ireland).
The Bronze Age and early medieval crannog of Rathtinaun, Co. Sligo (also commonly known
as Crannog 61) was first recognised in 1952 after drainage led to the artificial lowering of the
lake-levels of Lough Gara, on the Co. Sligo/Roscommon border. The site appeared as a large
stone cairn or mound, 36m by 29m and 2.5m in height, about 30m from the drylands in a
sheltered bay or inlet on the eastern side of the lake. Prior to excavations, the discovery of
late Bronze Age artefacts on the site indicated its late prehistoric origin. The site was then
totally excavated between 1953 and 1955 by Joseph Raftery, of the National Museum of
Ireland.
The site had two late Bronze Age phases of occupation (Period I and Period II), followed by a
period of abandonment and concealment by lake sands. Previously, it was thought that the
site had an Iron Age phase, but recent radiocarbon dating indicates this is not the case.
Period 1 probably dated to the late Bronze Age (c. 900 B.C.). The site appeared as an oval
mound of stones, 29m by 34m by 2.5m in height. Excavation indicated that a natural mound
had been levelled and a central depression filled, by piling timbers and brushwood above it.
The crannog was further raised with layers of timber and brushwood. A single possible hut,
represented by vertical oak piles and 9m in diameter, was associated with a timber trackway.
Several ‘fire-baskets’ were also found. These were circular, built of post and wattle, and lined
with protective yellow clay. Finds from this lower level included coarse-ware pottery, a discheaded
pin, a pair of tweezers, several rings, a possible cauldron fragment and a gold ‘hairring’.
Clay mould fragments and wooden containers were also found. The site was then
covered by lake-levels, sealing it under a layer of sand.
In Period II, the crannog was re-occupied. There was no great chronological gap between
Period I and Period II and the finds from the latter were also of late Bronze Age origin. Layers
of brushwood were laid down around an area of central cobbling. There were no clear house
structures, but there were six large hearths. These hearths were also in fire-baskets, 2.5m in
diameter with hearthstones. One hearth re-used a fire-basket dating from Period I. Finds
included two disc-headed pins, a pair of bronze tweezers, a bifid razor, a tanged chisel, a
phalera, coarse-ware pottery and wooden vessels. A hoard of objects were found in a box,
apparently in the floor of the Period II occupation. The hoard included a necklace of amber
beads, rings of bronze, pure tin and three of lead with gold-foil cover. There was also a pair
of tweezers, a bronze pin and unusually six boar’s tusks. The hoard appears to have been
marked by narrow vertical stakes. A number of iron objects were also found in the Period II
level, including a pin, a possible sickle fragment, a fork-like implement, a shafthole axehead
and a fragment of iron. Until recently this material was seen to represent the transition
between bronze and iron tools and implements. Most recent radiocarbon dating indicates that
this material is intrusive in Period II and dates to the early medieval phase of occupation. The
late Bronze Age lake structures at Rathtinaun appear to have been the permanent settlement
site of a small community, engaged in metalworking on a large-scale. The finds from the
Period I and Period II occupations are unusually rich, including bronze, gold, amber and other
objects. It is likely that these finds indicate the high social status of Rathinaun’s Bronze Age
inhabitants or that alternatively it was some form of production or redistribution centre.
The early medieval occupation began with the Period III occupation level. Period III was the
richest period of activity, suggested by the excavator to date from between A.D. 600-750.
However, the presence of a small Merovingian yellow glass bottle or phial (typologically
datable c. A.D. 500-650) probably indicates a slightly earlier sixth to seventh-century date. In
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