1971:29 - MONKNEWTOWN, Meath

Excavation work continued in 1971 from April 1 to June 10. In addition to the burials already discovered in 1970 eight more were discovered in 1971. Three of these are worth mentioning since they produced pottery– this being the exception rather than the rule on the site. The first of these produced a large crude flat-bottomed pot which contained a cremation. The second and probably the most interesting find on the site was a very finely preserved Carrowkeel bowl. This bowl which contained a cremation was found set directly on the gravel surface unprotected by any cist-like structure or pit. The third was a find of very fragmented Beaker-like pottery in a small shallow pit. This pit was surrounded by a fosse 1m deep and about 1m wide at its widest point. The fosse had a more or less flat bottom which was lined with a cobblestone floor. The entire structure was about 4.5m in diameter and appeared to be some type of a small barrow.

In addition to the burials on the site a habitation was found which contained about 3,000 sherds of pottery. The habitation consisted of an oval shaped flat-bottomed pit with a large well defined hearth. Several postholes conforming to the oval shape of the dug-out pit dwelling were found. Those postholes were well defined since they were lined with socket stones.

The pottery from the entire site appears to be basically Beaker with a few obvious non-Beaker pots such as the Carrowkeel Bowl. No barbed and tanged arrowheads or other typical non-pottery Beaker artifacts were found on the site. It is therefore suspected that the site has Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age cultural affinities rather than pure Bronze Age, and that the burials are roughly contemporary with the habitation site.