1988:40 - TANKARDSTOWN SOUTH, Limerick

This report describes the results of a second season of Royal Irish Academy funded excavation at Tankardstown South, near Kilmallock in Co. Limerick further to the discovery on the site of a Neolithic house during Irish Gas pipe laying in 1986.

Excavation was carried out over a period of six weeks, and concentrated on exposing the full ground plan of a second house, a portion of which was revealed during the 1987 season in Cutting 4. It was not possible to complete the excavation of House 2 with the allocated budget, thus a further grant has been sought for 1989.

Also discovered this year was a portion of ring ditch, cutting north-south across the western half of the house, and describing a diameter of roughly 12m-15m. It surrounds an unmasked cremation pit, discovered and excavated last year, in which were found two coarse, undecorated pots containing cremations, both of which were placed upright, one inside the other, within the pit.

The House
House 2 lies some 20m to the north west of House 1. Much of this season was spent locating the level at which archaeological deposits occur beneath ploughsoil and in tracing the outline ground plan of the house. As in the cuttings opened in 1987 and during the 1986 excavation, the old ground level no longer survives. No in situ occupation deposits survive except as features cut into subsoil and those features that do survive appear to have been truncated.

The main structure of the house is defined by a foundation trench containing numerous packing stones and burnt earth. The remains are not unlike those of House 1, but this structure is apparently less severely burnt in places and the foundation trench fill appears to he more disturbed.

The house appears to have maximum external dimensions of 15m -5.5m in length and c.7m- 7.5m in width. It has two narrow annexes, one at either end of a large central area. The central 'compartment' measures roughly 9m-9.2m in length. The foundation trench (F4) is generally 0.5m wide and 0.4m-0.45m deep with steep-sided to near-vertical or overhanging sides and a flat to gently rounded, irregular basal surface, where excavated. The surfaces of the construction backfill are noticeably oxidised in places.

While the north-west and south-west corners of the external wall were exposed during this season's excavation, the western end wall was not fully exposed. Further excavation to the west will be required to ensure that no other structural elements exist to the west of the two corners located.

No obvious internal postholes, such as those crossing the short axis of House 1, have yet been revealed in the central compartment, nor do any traces of a hearth survive. A shallow pit (F103), measuring 1m x 1.10m and 0.15m-0.16m deep, may constitute the base of a truncated posthole. However, while a concentration of dark, charcoal flecked soil and heat-cracked stones was noted at the northern side of this feature during excavation; it did not appear as a post-pipe, nor was the soil in which the fill occurred sufficiently oxidised to interpret it as a possible hearth pit. Samples of the fill have been retrieved for macro fossil, study.

At the eastern end of the house the features exposed during 1987 constitute the north-eastern corner of the house and annexe, the external wall of the annexe being defined by a large corner posthole (F78) and a short slot-trench(F2). An opposing corner post-hole (Fl 63) measuring max. 0.5m 0.65m in diameter, was revealed in the south east quadrant this season. The south eastern corner post (F78) appears to be 0.25m deep, while the north eastern corner post (F78) has a depth of 0.48m.

No trace of timbers in situ was revealed in those portions of the foundation trench excavated this season, even though three charred timber uprights were revealed in the small slot trench defining the eastern wall of the central compartment, excavated in 1987. Two of these have recently been submitted to Groningen for C14 dating.

Four areas of the foundation trench (F4) were completely, or almost completely, excavated. In portion 'A' a narrow slot was revealed at the base of the trench. In portion 'B' excavation of the fill towards the base of the trench revealed a row of packing stones set at a slight distance from the inner near-vertical foundation trench edge, leaving a narrow slot surviving in between. These appear to lie in situ. In portion 'C' the fill appeared somewhat disturbed. It contained many packing stones and obvious burnt material but none of it appeared to rest in situ. In portion 'C' the fill appeared somewhat disturbed. It contained many packing stones and obvious burnt material but none of it appeared to rest in situ. The same applies to portion 'D'.

The only other definite Neolithic feature excavated was a very short slot-gully (F 122) lying to the south of the foundation trench in the south-east quadrant. The sides are gently sloped and the base rounded. It measures 1.6m x 0.36m and is 0.09-0.15m deep. The function of this feature and its relationship to the house has not yet been ascertained.

The south-eastern quadrant of the cutting was excavated to a slightly lower level than the pre-cultivation surface revealed elsewhere. No further features were revealed in this area.

All the Neolithic features excavated, without exception, produced sherds and fragments of Western Neolithic round bottomed shouldered bowls. One vessel has an unusually shaped, very well made, 'D' section rim profile. Only two roughly made flint implements were found and the remaining flint recovered consists of very small flakes and fragments which may constitute knapping waste. These were not however, found in any one concentration or specific area.

The trench fill has been sampled for both macro-fossil study and charcoal identification. It is hoped to proceed with an on going programme of research on the plant and seed remains, initiated in 1986 with Mick Monk, U.C.C., especially since accelerator dates for cereal grain identified as Triticum Dicoccum, recovered from the foundation trench fill of House 1, have yielded uncalibrated C14 dates of 4840+80 and 4890+80 B.P.

Three samples of charcoal from the foundation trench fill of House 1, kindly processed at Groningen (our thanks to Jan Lanting) have returned uncalibrated dates of 5105±45, and 5005D+25 and 4880+110 B.P.

The Ring Ditch
This feature (F101) runs in an arc roughly north south through the Neolithic foundation trench and other pre ditch deposits (F171, 172, 173 and 177,) which may relate to the occupation of the house. It describes an arc of a circle roughly 12m-15m in diameter and surrounds the centrally placed cremation pit excavated in 1987. It thus appears to relate to the cremation pit and be of later Bronze Age date. It would now seem that one of the ditch/gully features excavated at the eastern end of Cutting 4 in 1987 also represents a part of this ditch.

The ditch is 1.3m-1.5m wide, with a gently sloped and flat bottomed profile. It is 1.1m to 1.3m deep. The fill, of alternately stoney and relatively stone free silty soil, clearly indicates that silt lines have been quite heavily truncated.

No dateable material was retrieved from the areas of ditch fill excavated except a small sherd of Neolithic pottery which appears to be redeposited.

Later features
At the north of the cutting the internal partition of the house (F 116) is crossed by a later, linear feature(F 113). In portion 'A' of the excavated foundation trench, the well defined terminal of a linear feature (F133/F182) running in the same direction may relate to this, but further excavation is required before this point can be ascertained.

At the east of the site a linear feature (F86), first noted in Cutting 4 last year, appears to run right across the excavated area and is likely to relate to F 183 to the south of the southern wall of the house and adjacent to F 122. Neither feature has been fully investigated.

The Finds
Sixty-seven sherds of primary Western Neolithic round bottomed shouldered bowls were recovered. Of these, six were rim sherds and two were carinated. Flint recovered includes a leaf shaped blade, a rough point, ten struck flakes of over 10mm without obvious retouch, and twelve tiny chips of less than 10mm. There were also two quartz pebbles which may have been roughly worked.

5 St Catherine's Road, Glenageary Co. Dublin and Coolalough, Hospital, Co. Limerick