Enclosure

The National Monuments Service's description

On the plateau-like top of Knocknashee Hill and widely distributed over the grass and heather-covered terraces in the E half of a hillfort (SL032-013001-). A complex of c. 30 huts in clusters of two, three and occasionally more, separated by distances of 2-15m; one instance of two conjoined huts was noted. The huts are often in N-S rows following the contours of the natural terracing. Although the degree of preservation of the huts varies, they are remarkably uniform in size and form. A typical hut consists of a flat circular area (diam. 8-11m) defined by a stony wall (Wth 1.6m; H 0.3-0.5m). Most are entirely sod-covered but where the enclosing wall is exposed it appears to be composed of a jumble of angular limestone rubble. A number of the huts are surrounded by a fosse (Wth 1.5-2m; D 0.3-0.5m) immediately outside the enclosing wall. However, in most cases, instead of a continuous fosse there are two or three discrete depressions outside the wall. A clearly defined entrance gap is not always evident but where entrances were identified they usually occurred in the SE quadrant. Condit, Gibbons and Timoney (1991, 61) noted that further evidence for individual settlement sites might be provided by the presence of scoops and hollows situated at the S and SW within the hillfort. The complex is clearly visible in aerial photographs taken in 1968 (CUCAP, AVJ 1, 4, 5; CUCAP, AVI 95-6). Two possible passage tombs (SL032-013002-; SL032-013003-), c. 120m apart, lie at the N limit of the huts and within the hillfort. A similar complex of huts (SL040-108----) at Mullaghfarna, c. 22km to the SE, has been tentatively dated to the Neolithic period. (Norman and St Joseph 1969, 24-5)

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Sligo' compiled by Ursula Egan, Elizabeth Byrne, Mary Sleeman with Sheila Ronan and Connie Murphy (Dublin Stationery Office, 2005).

Attached images:
SL032-013004_01.JPG
SL032-013004_02.JPG
SL032-013004_03.JPG
SL032-013004_04.JPG

Date of upload: 18 January 2008