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

Waterford
A stone metalled entrance-way, 7.5m wide was uncovered on the eastern landward side of
this complex stratigraphy in culvert 1. One ditch was exposed on the opposite landward side
of this entranceway and appears to belong to the line of the larger ‘outer’ ditch. The inner,
shallower ditch also continued on the opposite side of the entranceway but this could not be
confirmed as its projected route lay outside the culvert 1 trench. The two ditches forming the
eastern enclosure were excavated within the roadtake at the northern end of the site.
Excavations at the southwestern end of the site overlooking the Killoteran Stream also
uncovered a ditch 2m by 1m. The fill of this ditch/pit produced a date of a two sigma date of
between A.D. 675-901 (highest probability). It was subsequently sealed by a deposit of burnt
stones dated to A.D. 860-1018 (highest probability). After this spread was laid down in the
southwestern field, the site appears to have been open in this area (Russell et. al. 2007, 43).
The earliest stratified finds in the excavated ditches included a possible hone-stone and a
small fragment of lead (< 1 gram in weight) indicating possible lead-working on site. An oak
sample from a charcoal-rich deposit in the lower fill of the outer ditch returned a 2Σ date of
between the end of the fourth century and the mid sixth century. A large collection of
artefacts including burnishing or polishing stones, hone-stones, an iron nodule, a possible
glass bead and two amber beads were also recovered in the ditches.
Only a relatively small area of the enclosure has been investigated. A considerable quantity of
early medieval artefacts were recovered from the ploughsoil in both field which suggest that
while the lower levels of cut features may survive intact, much of the habitation evidence
may have been destroyed by subsequent post-medieval cultivation. The distribution of the
finds indicates that domestic artefacts- knives and hones- were concentrated in the northern
field.
A significant number of hearths, pits, spreads, slot-trenches and post and stake-holes were
excavated within the interior of the enclosure ditches and indicate intensive settlement
activity. Scatters of post-and stake-holes throughout the site, particularly in the northern field
indicate a number of potential oval and rectilinear houses. A sample from the fill of a pit
associated with an arc of post-holes and a hearth returned a radiocarbon date of (A.D. 675-
901) and indicates that these structures were possibly in use sometime between the seventh
and ninth centuries.
A sub-rectangular structure defined by a slot-trench- 10.44m by 7.1m at its greatest extentwas
excavated in the south-western field (Russell, 2007, 67 & 81). The slot-trenches appear
to have been constructed in two phases. The structure contained a number of floor surfaces
and a possible spud-stone on its western side may have marked an entrance. Two external
metalled surfaces may have functioned as pathways leading to additional structures to the
west.
A considerable quantity of crucibles, hone stones, tuyère fragment and rotary sharpening/
polishing stones indicate that this structure had an industrial rather than a domestic function.
There was evidence- glass beads, droplets and slag- that glass was being worked in the
immediate area, and probably within the structure itself (Russell 2007, 82).
Excavated pits, hearths, kilns and other cut features were found throughout the area of the
enclosure though were primarily concentrated in the southwestern field, indicating that
considerable industrial activity was undertaken in this area of the site. A very substantial
spread of dark clay, charcoal and heat-shattered stone was deposited upon a number of cut
features in the southern field indicating at least two phases of activity in this area.
Immediately outside the enclosure in the southern field close to Killoteran stream were
excavated a hearth surrounded by a stake-built windbreak. The hearth was associated with a
number of spreads which presumably represented work surfaces or industrial dumping.
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