House - early medieval

The National Monuments Service's description

Fifteen house sites dating to the tenth - eleventh centuries AD have been recovered in excavation of the upper levels of the passage tomb mound. This is medieval house 15, the only house not located on the great mound as it is situated between the satellite Tombs 15 and 16.A lot of re-organisation took place NE of the great mound in this era involving the levelling of the mounds from Tombs 15-18 and the establishment of a paved surface (dims c. 50m E-W; c. 25m N-S) over the area. This activity was contemporary with medieval houses 4 and 5 and their associated features, including the re-use of the E tomb as a souterrain, and it is suggested that the paved area could have functioned as a farmyard for these houses.
This house (dims 3.4m plus E-W; 4.85m N-S) with rounded corners was represented by the remnants of a paved floor, a hearth close to the E wall, and fragments of the N and S walls, but the W side did not survive. It was built over the cobbles of the farmyard, and souterrain 7 (ME019-030057-) began within the house. This house is not conserved. (Eogan 2012, 162)

True location: ITM (669644, 773485)

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 26 November 2013
Amended: 18 September 2020

See the attached illustrations:
_1 Early medieval features, from Knowth 5, Fig. 4:1
_2 House plan, from Knowth 5, Fig. 4:50

References

Eogan, G. 2012 Excavations at Knowth 5: the archaeology of Knowth in the first and second millennia AD. Dublin. Royal Irish Academy.