Habitation site

The National Monuments Service's description

Located in the now reclaimed Aghavas Lough, which is represented as a subrectangular lake (dims c. 250m E-W; c. 200m N-S) on the 1837 ed. of the OS 6-inch map but which could have been much larger (dims c. 800m E-W; c. 300m N-S). Forestry works in 1999 revealed artifacts including a quernstone (Buckley 1999), which was reported by Brendan Lynch. A record (99E0555) of features revealed by the drains was made (O’Sullivan and Lyttleton 1999). Two layers of lake marl overlay an oval charcoal-rich layer with ash lenses (dims 17m N-S; 11m E-W; max. T 0.5m), which in turn overlay a layer of peat. Some vertical posts and stones from a paved area were recorded, but no large structural base of trees and stones. Artifacts recovered include crannog ware, suggesting a late medieval date for a lakeside habitation site (13th to 16th century AD). It was subsequently planted with trees. (Buckley and O’Sullivan 2000)

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 9 September, 2015

References

Buckley, V. M. 1999 An unlucky break or great crack. Archaeology Ireland, vol. 13, 2, No. 49, 17.

Buckley, V. and O'Sullivan, A. 2000 Aghavas. Medieval lacustrine site. In I. Bennett (ed.) Excavations 1999: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 154, No. 467. Bray, Wordwell