County: Kerry Site name: CLOGHERS, Tralee
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 98E0238
Author: Jacinta Kiely, Eachtra Archaeological Projects
Site type: House - Neolithic
Period/Dating: Neolithic (4000BC-2501 BC)
ITM: E 483510m, N 613266m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.258760, -9.706395
Monitoring of a house construction project in the townland of Cloghers on the southern side of the River Lee and Tralee town was divided into six phases. Licensed monitoring of Phases V and VI was undertaken in June 1998. No archaeological stratigraphy was recorded during the monitoring of Phases IV and V; extensive archaeological stratigraphy was recorded during the monitoring of Phase VI.
An area of burnt stratigraphy lay on the northern side of a limestone reef, which forms the south-western boundary of the site. An area 12m north-south by 27m was excavated. A Neolithic house was uncovered in the western section of the trench. A series of pits and stake-holes was found in the eastern section of the trench. The archaeology was truncated by a series of cultivation furrows aligned north-south. They were c. 2m apart, 1–1.5m wide and 0.2m deep. There were five pits and a number of stake-holes in the area to the east of the Neolithic house. A small faunal assemblage was recovered from the deepest of the pits. To date, the bones of cow and small perching birds have been identified.
The rectangular Neolithic structure measures 7.5m north-south by 12.5m. It is orientated east- west, with a possible entrance to the east. The bedrock in the north-western corner is high, and the line of the structure is incomplete in this area. The remains suggests that the walls of the structure, including the two internal divisions, were constructed with vertical split planks set in bedding trenches, supported by corner posts and intermittent posts located on the line of the walls. Sherds of pottery, fragments of polished mudstone axes, burnt hazelnut shells, mudstone scrapers and flint were recovered from some of the substantial post-holes. The eastern and central room of the structure is 3.5m wide; the western room is 4m wide. No hearth had survived. A fence line lies 0.8m to the south of the southern wall of the structure. It was constructed of small stakes set within a wider bedding trench.
To date, around 100 sherds of pottery have been examined by Helen Roche. It is estimated that a minimum of nine vessels is represented. They are round-based, modestly carinated bowls, typical of the early Western Neolithic-type pottery dating to the early part of the third millennium.
Assemblages of mudstone, flint, chert, quartz and sandstone were recovered. Post-excavation work is ongoing.
Clover Hill, Mallow, Co. Cork
