1987:55 - KNOCKAVELISH, Waterford

This site is part of the Bally Lough Archaeological Project, a collaborative project that began in 1982.

In 1987 a block excavation of the Flynn Site on Knockavelish Strand just north of the town of Dunmore East was begun. This site was discovered in 1983 during fieldwalking. The site surface yielded a high density of materials (several hundred pieces), including several possibly indicative of later Mesolithic (hunter-gatherer) settlement dating between 8000 and 5000 years ago. A test excavation grid of some 80 half-metre units during the summer of 1986 revealed a core area of high artefact deposition (as high as 30 pieces in one unit), along with several features including possible hearths.

The 1987 fieldwork began by exploring these patterns through more extensive excavation of the site's 'hot areas'. It concentrated on the core area within the north central portion of the site. A second area near the present field edge was also investigated to examine further evidence for shell and midden features; and a third area west of the block was opened up because of previously-found concentrations of lithics.

The main find of the season was a sealed cultural layer in the core unit. This area of approximately 60 sq.m yielded over 2000 lithic pieces, most of which were found in the undisturbed B horizon below the ploughed soils. A surface noted by a dense pattern of angular stones and associated flints and fire-cracked rock marked the bottom of this horizon. Fire-cracked rock is often indicative of hearth-fires, or the use of heated rocks to boil water in containers. The surface itself yielded between 50 and 100 stone pieces. A most important observation concerning this surface is that it cuts into the natural slope of the present-day surface indicating that deposited materials were probably not washed down the natural slope of the field, but rather lost or discarded by the people living there at the time.

Two alternative interpretations of this surface are posited. Initial observations of the lithic concentration and the slope angle of the surface (in comparison with the present-day slope) leads to a cultural hypothesis: i.e., that the feature represents a cultural floor. Initial field observations of a bounding of the stony pattern within a 5m x 5m rectangular feature support this hypothesis. In addition, an associated hearth-like feature with large amounts of wood charcoal and a flat stone at its bottom is located just 2-3m north of this apparent rectangular floor. However, intensive searches for other features such as post-holes and hearths within and surrounding the feature have yielded no clear candidates.

Geomorphological examination by Marc Macklin (University of Newcastle) yields a natural interpretation for the stony surface. He offers the hypothesis that the stony surface is the result of periglacial processes. Cultural use of this surface is, of course, clear; but the surface itself with its dense stony pattern is posited as a natural geological phenomenon. As this geological examination occurred toward the end of the site excavation, only initial follow-up tests were possible. However, some indications for an extension of the stony surface well beyond the hypothesised floor were found.

What is clear is that this area of the site does yield a dense concentration of cultural material, that it is sealed below the plough zone, and that some cultural features are also associated with this sealed layer. The charcoal will help to date the site, and further excavation is planned.

The eastern and western areas of the site yielded some interesting artefactual material, but their context was not particularly enlightening. The eastern field edge showed a buried but highly disturbed shell feature. An uncharacteristically large platform core was among the most interesting artefacts found, but its position just within the shell feature was problematic. The excavation helped us to define the boundary of some of the recent ditch disturbance. The western area yielded a possible feature but sparse artefactual evidence.

A general analysis of the lithics, compiled by Jane Peterson, is summarised here.

Approximately 2200 lithic pieces from the site were examined. Flint dominates the lithic assemblage, although rhyolite and to a lesser extent basalt and quartz are present. No definitive diagnostic indicators were found within the sealed B horizon. However, uniplane platform cores (later Mesolithic diagnostic) did occur and several pieces of groundstone, including one finely polished axehead, were recovered within the B horizon. The ploughzone/A horizon contained two broken tangs from arrowheads characteristic of Bronze Age settlement.

Among the flint artefacts, 49 utilised pieces were identified by hand lens examination. The range of utilised lithics includes cores, flakes, and tool categories. However, nine out of ten formal tools (e.g. scrapers, knives, arrowheads) were used. The local flint was apparently heated to make it more easily flake. Examination of thermal alteration was combined with experimental work with the local materials. Thermally altered pieces are not rare, but analyses beyond this observation are still on-going. The two basic types of stone chipping found in the region, platform and bipolar chipping, are present at the site. Bipolar chipping involves hitting a stone core as it sits upon an anvil. This technique is particularly useful for small pebble flint such as is found in the Waterford area. Platform or free-striking chipping is used on bigger pieces of raw material and can often produce finer pieces. Many flakes, however, are difficult to place reliably in one or the other category, and again on-going analysis is pursuing this problem.

This year's funding came from the Centre for Field Research, the University of South Carolina Research Fund and the British Academy.