1998:282 - LISSYVIGGEEN, Kerry

In April 1998 a limited excavation was carried out at Lissyviggeen, Killarney, Co. Kerry, to recover radiocarbon samples from the enclosing element to assist in the dating of this monument. The site consists of a small stone circle, surrounded by a low earthwork bank with two massive outlier stones 11.5m to the south of the enclosure. It was also hoped to explore the chronological and cultural relationship to Beaker period settlement in the Killarney area and specifically to the copper mining at Ross Island.

The strategy was to excavate a 2m-wide trench from the stone circle northwards through the enclosing earthen bank but not to excavate inside the circle. This cutting was placed to investigate a possible inner ditch feature, the presence of which was suggested by electrical resistivity survey. Excavation in the southern half of this area, close to the stone circle, revealed a natural soil profile with no archaeological stratification or finds. Excavation at the northern end revealed the upper fill of a ditch lying directly inside the earthen bank enclosure. Ten sediment deposits were excavated from the ditch, mostly of a sandy texture with a high incidence of rounded field cobbles and small boulders. No artefacts or other cultural material were recovered.

The ditch has a steep-sided profile and narrow, flat bottom, ranging in width from c. 3m at the top to about 1m at the base. The maximum central depth is estimated at 2.05m from the top of the cut profile, or 2.5m below the modern ground surface. The position of the ditch with respect to the adjacent bank suggests that there is unlikely to be any intervening berm.

There are only two chronological markers in this ditch sequence. The first relates to the discovery of white china pottery near the base of the humic A-horizon that overlies this ditch fill. Within the latter the only dating evidence is provided by a single radiocarbon date for charcoal from a sediment in the upper fill sequence. This result (Grn-23973: 1940+15BP) can be calibrated to AD 27–75 (68.3% certainty) or AD 20–80 (95.4% certainty) calibration (I am grateful to Jan Lanting for providing this result). This charcoal date provides a very broad terminus ante quem for the accumulation of sediments in the lower part of the ditch. It is not possible to assess the interval of time between the digging of this ditch and the fire event represented by the radiocarbon charcoal.

In the light of these results and to minimise damage to this unique site it was decided not to excavate through the adjacent bank, where the recovery of dating evidence was considered unlikely.

The discovery of a substantial ditch inside the bank enclosure at Lissyviggeen adds to speculation that this monument has affinities with the Neolithic henge tradition in Ireland. However, no artefacts or other archaeological remains were discovered that would confirm that this is indeed a circle-henge. Possible connections with later prehistoric barrow traditions cannot be ruled out. A radiocarbon date obtained from the upper ditch fill does confirm that this earthwork enclosure is prehistoric in date and raises interesting questions about the secondary use of these monuments in the Iron Age.