House - Neolithic

The National Monuments Service's description

Located on a rise towards the bottom of a NW-facing slope with a NW-SE stream c. 70m to the NW. An occupation level was identified by Claire Cotter on the line of a Bórd Gáis pipeline from Dunleer, Co. Lough, to Mullagh, Co. Cavan. It proved to be a Neolithic house with a Bronze Age phase, and was excavated (E000633) by Eoin Halpin. The house was rectangular (dims c. 10m x 6m) divided into two rooms, the E (dims 6m x 5.5m) with a doorway (Wth 1m) at E to the exterior and an internal doorway (Wth 1.5m) to the W room, the full extent of which did not survive and it may be that the W end was open. Three post-holes on the central axis and the load-bearing post-and-plank N and S walls supported the roof. A pit in the E room was filled with burnt stone and ash. Charcoal samples from the foundation trench produced calibrated determinations of 3971-3706 BC and 3936-3697 BC. A Bronze Age urn burial (ME005-105001-) was inserted in the floor of the E room. A gully (Wth c. 0.4m; D 0.1m) c. 2m to the E was C-shaped (dims c. 7m N-S; c. 6m plus E-W) and may have formed an associated enclosure. Just 2m N of this was an irregularly-shaped stony platform (dims c. 10m E-W; 5m N-S). Amongst the finds were sherds of Neolithic pottery. (Halpin and Gowen 1991; Halpin 1992; Gowen 1992)

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 5 September 2018

References

Halpin, E. and Gowen, M. 1991 Newtown: Neolithic house. In I. Bennett (ed.) Excavations 1991: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 37-9. Bray, Wordwell

Halpin, E. 1992 Pre gas-pipeline excavation at Newtown, Co. Meath. Archaeological Development Services, Licence: E000633. Unpublished report, Archaeological Development Services

Gowen, M. 1992 A neolithic house at Newtown. Archaeology Ireland 6, no. 2, 25-7.