Excavation - miscellaneous

The National Monuments Service's description

A series of Late Bronze Age pits, identified as F248, F249, F1232, F1234 and F1227, were uncovered during the course of research excavations in the inner enclosure at Dún Aonghasa (GA110-039----); all were located towards the S end of Cutting 1.

Identified as F248, this pit was located 4m to the E of the inner enclosure wall. It was L-shaped in plan and consisted of a vertical-sided cavity (0.52m x 0.5m; D 0.14-0.24m) that was filled with a stony dark brown clay, lightly flecked with charcoal containing a small amount of food refuse, including some mussel shells. Some fragments of animal bone showed evidence of burning but as none of the other inclusions did it is likely that the bone was burnt elsewhere (Cotter 2012, vol. 1, 325-7).

Pit F249 was located to the W of F248 and 1.6m to the E of the inner enclosure wall. It consisted of an irregularly shaped dished hollow (0.8m x 0.65m; D <0.11m) roughly chipped out of the bedrock. It was filled with ash and charcoal-rich clay. A small quantity of animal bone and limpet shell recovered appeared to have been scorched. The presence ash and charcoal suggest the possibility that it may have been a hearth (ibid., 326-9).

Pit F1232 was located near the SE corner of Cutting 1. It was irregular in plan (diam. 1.8m; D 0.15m) and the pit fill contained a relatively large quantity of broken heat-shattered red sandstone. A spread of limpets occurred on the surface of the pit at N and some animal and fish bone were recovered from the fill. Finds from the fill included two abraded scraps of clay moulds, the tip and shank portion of a bone pin and a fragment of limonite/magnetite. The presence of the shattered sandstone and the discarded shells suggests that the pit may have been used for roasting limpets (ibid., 326-9). See also GA110-039026-.

Pit F1234 was located at the S balk of Cutting 1and was 2.6m from the cliff edge. It was subrectangular (0.4 by 0.2m; D <0.1m) in outline. The fill consisted of loose stony clay containing occasional scraps of organic refuse (ibid, 326-9).

Pit F1227, to the NE of Pit 1234, consisted of a small rectilinear hollow (0.38m by 0.3m; D 0.13m) filled with greyish-brown charcoal-flecked clay and a small quantity of ash. Scraps of bone and shell were recovered from the fill (ibid., 326-9).

Compiled by: Olive Alcock

Date of upload: 22 June 2020

References

Cotter, C. 2012 The western stone forts project. Excavations at Dún Aonghasa and Dún Eoghanachta. 2 vols. Dublin. Wordwell Ltd.