County: Offaly Site name: CORHILL BOG, Lisdermot
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 00E0460
Author: Ellen OCarroll, ADS Ltd.
Site type: Platform - peatland
Period/Dating: Early Medieval (AD 400-AD 1099)
ITM: E 613267m, N 727632m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.298818, -7.800977
Excavations were carried out in Corhill Bog, Co. Offaly, as part of the Bord na Móna Archaeological Mitigation Project. These excavations were undertaken to resolve known archaeological sites so that Bord na Móna could resume peat production in areas that had been cleared of archaeology. The field season ran from June to August 2000. This licence covers the excavation of a brushwood and roundwood platform located at the south-western side of Corhill Bog. This platform is among a number of similar platforms excavated in the area (see Excavations 2000, Nos 834–6). They were located close together and lay on a natural gravel ridge within the bog.
The platform was composed of tightly packed brushwood rods and one large roundwood to the west of the cutting, which was also the limit of the site on that side. The brushwood was in poor condition where the wood was exposed on the surface of the bog. Elsewhere, especially around the central area of the platform, the wood was in moderate condition with some bark still surviving. The platform was shown to consist of two layers. The brushwood, 200 rods in total excavated from the first layer, averaged 0.03m in diameter, while the roundwood measured 0.1m in diameter. The length of the brushwood averaged 0.8m, while the roundwood measured 1.66m in length. Most of the elements were laid in a north–south direction, except for an occasional one that ran in an east–west direction. Some outliers or disturbed pieces of brushwood were located in the eastern side of the cutting. There do not appear to have been any pegs associated with this structure.
After removing the upper longitudinal elements a further 100 elements were revealed underneath. These brushwoods were smaller, ranging from 0.01m to 0.02m in diameter and averaging 0.06m in length. There was no specific orientation to this layer, and it was not as densely packed as the upper layer. Twigs were noted in this lower layer also.
The platform, which was excavated in its entirety, measured 2m by 2.15m and was 0.02m deep. It was located on the field surface, and its upper surface had been milled. It is possible that the wood was laid down to serve as a small, dry platform for hunting or for the collection of a particular type of organic material located in the raised bog peat.
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