1997:426 - KNOWTH, Meath

During the months from December 1996 to May 1997, while carrying out excavations in the area of the western passage in advance of conservation, evidence for a ‘Western’ Neolithic house underlying the passage orthostats emerged (Ríocht na Midhe (1998), 1–9).

Neolithic house
The house is located 6.85m to the rear of the entrance stone to the West Tomb passage (K74). Only part of the house was excavated. It was decided not to uncover the northern part of the house, as to do so would have necessitated the removal of a substantial portion of the mound of Passage Tomb 1.

Despite this disturbance by later prehistoric activity, part of a recognisable rectangular house, aligned south-east/north-west, was uncovered, measuring 4.8m in length and 3.54m in width. The longest portion of the eastern trench measures 4.34m in length, 0.24m in width and 0.26m in depth. The stretch of the eastern trench uncovered within the passage was 0.58m long, 0.14m wide and 0.25m deep.

The only features found within the house were three post-holes, which would have held structural posts to support the roof. They ran in a line between the eastern and western foundation trenches and were at a distance of 2.9m from the south foundation trench.

In total, 61 sherds of pottery were found within the foundation trenches, representing about five vessels. These vessels were of ‘Western’ Neolithic round-bottomed shouldered bowl form, similar to the Lyles Hill Style, as classified by Case. Although the lithic finds are limited, they fit comfortably into the accepted ‘Western’ Neolithic assemblage of finds.

The foundation trenches of the house were cut through a layer of brown earth and stones, which in turn overlay the natural boulder clay. A few concentrations of more densely placed stones, both within and outside the house, may have been deliberately placed to act as a floor for the house and a yard.

A large pit is present 1.1m west of the house; it was not possible to excavate the full extent because part of it was covered by the mound of Passage Tomb 1. The exposed area of the pit was 1.94m wide and 0.4m deep. The fill consisted of boulder clay, brown earth, charcoal flecks and some large stones. A few animal bones were found within the fill. However, as the brown earth layer with stones extends across the surface of the pit, it seems likely that the pit pre-dates the house.

The house and the areas outside were sealed with a grey sticky natural sod layer, up to 0.1m thick in places. The basal layers of the mound of Passage Tomb 1 were laid directly on this natural sod. This stratigraphical sequence is important as it shows that the ‘Western’ Neolithic house had been abandoned for a considerable amount of time before the construction of Passage Tomb 1.

This house has parallels at other sites in Ireland, the most obvious being House 1 at Ballygalley, Co. Antrim. It also provides dramatic evidence for the complexity of ‘Western’ Neolithic activity at Knowth—previous excavations had uncovered evidence for Earlier ‘Western’ Neolithic activity. The pottery evidence suggests that this house can be assigned to the Later ‘Western’ Neolithic stage. This, too, was a time of considerable activity, which was concentrated on the western side of the hilltop in the region of the present house, and consists of a subrectangular structure/house and palisaded enclosures. This represents an evolving settlement pattern, as not all of the structures were in simultaneous use.

Site 1, western passage
Arising out of conservation work, limited excavation was carried out in the passage. Orthostat 9 was considerably off plumb and required straightening. When this work was being carried out its socket was thoroughly investigated, as was the portion of the mound of the passage tomb on the outside of it. This work confirmed that, as was the case with the other orthostats, it was standing in a trench and secured in position with packing-stones. Neither socket nor mound produced any artefacts.

Where possible at other points in the outer part of the passage, between orthostats 1–24 and 60–84 were checked out so as to get as complete a structural record as possible. This has shown that in all areas of the passage investigated the orthostats were erected in a trench. No finds were discovered.

Resistivity (Licence no. 97R0025)
A magnetic gradiometry survey was carried out over two areas south of the Knowth complex of tombs in an attempt to locate and map any subsurface archaeological activity.

Area 1 was located over the northern half of what is believed to be a raised ringfort situated on the bank of the River Boyne and approximately 400m south-south-west of the main mound. This survey area measured 60m x 20m and readings were logged at 0.5m x 0.5m intervals on the main part of Area 1 and at 0.25m x 0.25m over the eastern part of the survey area, where a possible entrance feature exists. This site is listed on the SMR sheet as monument No. 38.

The results identified a number of anomalies, most notably a circular positive anomaly, approx. 2m in diameter, which is interpreted as a possible posthole because of its nature and its location on the edge of the possible entrance feature to the east of the ringfort. A pair of linear anomalies were observed running from the entrance feature into the ringfort interior. The source of these anomalies is unknown but they are possibly of archaeological significance. A number of other minor anomalies were identified in the interior of the ringfort but no distinct features were identified owing to the disturbance caused by cultivation ridges and the resultant anomalies which obscure minor features.

Area 2 was located in the field between the main mound at Knowth and the raised ringfort. An area of 40m x 40m was surveyed at a resolution of 0.5m x 0.5m. The aim of the geophysical survey in Area 2 was to locate and identify any possible archaeological features around the bank and ditch feature evident on the surface. Apart from the anomaly produced by the latter feature, a number of other anomalies were identified which may have an archaeological significance. These were mainly concentrated in the north-west corner of the survey area and, although extremely subtle, their regular curvilinear shape suggests an archaeological significance.

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Everything you wanted to know about Knowth in six volumes

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