County: Mayo Site name: GLENBAUN
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: —
Author: Christine Grant and Amanda Loughran
Site type: Metalworking site
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 487475m, N 778218m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.741442, -9.705780
The excavation of a small enclosure at Glenbaun, Co. Mayo, funded by the OPW on the recommendation of the National Commitee for Archaeology of the R.I.A., was undertaken in September 1992.
Prior to excavation the site appeared as a walled enclosure, 4.2m in internal diameter with a slightly domed interior. The primary aims were to establish a date and functional context for the site which is similar to a number of others in the area in terms of size and shape.
An area of 20m sq. was investigated, raking a long section through the site, running north-south. Cleaning back of the 'wall' sections revealed that the enclosing element is in fact an earthen bank faced internally and externally with large stones, up to 0.9m long. An external ditch and second bank were also uncovered.
The internal bank on the southern side comprised several layers of ash and burnt earth. This appears to be redeposition of material from the interior of the site, which displayed much evidence of burning. In contrast, the northern section of this internal bank and the outer bank were of different construction being made up of distinct layers of grey-brown sandy-clay.
An internal stone-lined ditch was exposed on the northern side of the site. Other interior features include two pits, which cut through a deposit of charcoal, and a deposit of heavily compacted baked clay. Although no diagnostic artefacts were found, a large quantity of iron slag was recovered from the interior.
A final season of excavation should determine if this site had a domestic as well as an industrial function, while the charcoal recovered will hopefully provide a firm chronological context.
52 Brookwood Crescent, Artane, Dublin 5 and 1 Meany Avenue, Dalkey, Co. Dublin
