County: Limerick Site name: KNOCKADOON HILL, Lough Gur
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: —
Author: Rose M. Cleary, Dept. of Archaeology, University College Cork
Site type: Habitation site
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 564358m, N 640847m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.517831, -8.525148
The excavation took place for a ten-week period from 26 May to 31 July 1987 and was funded by a grant from the Royal Irish Academy. The aims of the excavation included the recovery of:
(i) material suitable for radiocarbon dating;
(ii) stratigraphic information on finds;
(iii) information on structural features; and
(iv) samples of charred plant and seed remains for environmental analysis.
During the 1987 season, the excavation area was extended in order to determine the extent of the occupation layer. Occupation debris had been uncovered in 1986 and was visible as concentrations of pottery, animal bone and charcoal. During the 1987 excavation, it became clear that the occupation area was largely confined to a distinct platform at the southern end of the site. This was delimited on the north side by a band of mixed limestone (burnt) and sandstone, and was up to 0.25m thick. This stony band included lenses of charcoal, concentrations of pottery and a considerable amount of animal bone. This stony band may be some sort of 'trackway' which ran along the edge of the occupation/'house' area. The archaeological remains on the platform itself consisted of a gravelly humic spread interpreted as a 'floor', clusters of stakeholes surrounding a pit (which included an infant's skull in the fill), and a number of postholes, which seem to have a random distribution.
Three further cist graves were also excavated in 1987 and these were confined to the northern end of the site. One cist (Feature 30) was trapezoidal in plan and constructed from irregularly shaped limestone blocks. The human remains were of 4 children and segments of an adult hand. A second cist (Feature 34) was rectangular in plan and made from very regular limestone slabs. The floor was paved. The human remains were from one infant with the skull to the east. Feature 67 was also a cist grave which was rectangular in plan. It contained only two fragments of burnt bone and a sliver of flint. A number of post-holes were also excavated in the vicinity of this cist.
The site also had a random scattered of pits and postholes. All the flints from the excavation are finished artefacts and were found only on the northern end of the present cutting. The pottery from this season was mainly very friable Lough Gur Class 11 ware. The animal bone assemblage consisted of about 2500 fragments.
