1996:165 - CAHERLEHILLAN, Kerry

Excavations at this site commenced in 1992 and have continued for five-week periods in June–July each year since then. In 1996 excavation continued in Cuttings 1, 2, 3 and 5, and one new area (Cutting 6) was opened in the south of the enclosure to link up Cuttings 2 and 4.

Cutting 1, located in the ceallunach portion of the site, produced no evidence for burials this year and it appears that the base of the ceallunach levels has been reached. An L-shaped trench found in the north of the cuffing contained a moderate amount of iron slag and one badly corroded nail. A second linear trench was found in the centre of the cutting but had been truncated by ceallunach burials. Two cut features in the north suggest the presence of driven posts. Excavation will continue to establish whether early medieval deposits survive under the ceallunach burial-ground.

Excavation of Cutting 2, located towards the centre of the enclosure, produced no finds, but a number of stake-holes were found in the northern half of the cutting. To date, large numbers of cut features—such as postholes, stakeholes and pits—have been excavated in this cutting, but their layout does nor, as yet, suggest an obvious pattern. To the north of the cutting there is, however, an arc of double stakeholes but this area was disturbed in the medieval period.

Excavation in Cutting 3, located in the south-west of the enclosure, produced further evidence for metalworking. A shallow subrectangular pit with burnt sides was found in the south-west of the cutting. It measured 1.07m in length, 0.67m in width and 0.17m in depth. One small piece of iron slag was found in the fill. It was located close to a similar pit excavated in 1995. A posthole was found in the south-east of the cutting, and a pit, which had been backfilled with stones, was located in the north.

No archaeological material was found in Cuttings 5 and 6 during the 1996 season.