County: Mayo Site name: GORTAROE II
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 01E1042
Author: Richard Gillespie
Site type: House - Neolithic and Kiln
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 500217m, N 785319m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.807824, -9.515003
This site was identified during soil-stripping in advance of pipe-laying on the Westport Main Drainage and Waste Water Disposal Scheme. It was found close to several well-preserved fulachta fiadh (see No. 911, Excavations 2001, 01E0650).
House site
The house was located on the lower south-facing slope of a drumlin, typical of the Clew Bay area. It was uncovered on the edge of low-lying peat, where the aforementioned fulachta fiadh were situated.
The surviving remains consisted of a rectangular foundation trench, ten substantial post-holes and pits, and 32 stake-holes and smaller pits. The foundation trench had an average width of 0.25m and a depth of up to 0.3m. It was rectangular in plan with rounded corners and overall dimensions of 9.8m by 6.8m. It was orientated north-east by south-west. The foundation trench contained tightly packed flat stones, which would have supported a split-plank wall. It was stepped in the north-east and south-west to compensate for the slope. The ten larger pits and post-holes occurred in the south-east half of the structure and most of the smaller features occurred in the north-west.
No definite entrance feature or hearth was identified. The north-east corner adjacent to C49 is the most likely position for the entrance. The only break in the foundation trench, seen as a variation in the subsoil, is here. This may have been a beaten surface and C49 may have contained a doorjamb. Unfortunately, this is also the most disturbed area of the site. In addition, one spread of disturbed soil containing charcoal was excavated within the structure but no evidence of in situ burning was found.
One important external feature, C47, lay to the south of the site. It was a stone-filled linear cut which abutted the foundation trench and continues beyond the limit of the excavation. It may have been a drain but further excavation could reveal an alternative function.
More than 150 small finds were recovered from the general area of the site. One sherd of prehistoric pottery was well stratified within the foundation trench, and a perforated black glass bead was found adjacent to the house. One piece of burnt flint, some worked quartz and quartz crystals were also recovered. However, chert was the predominant lithic material in the assemblage. Chert artefacts included an unfinished javelin-head, a plano-convex knife (unfinished), a hollow scraper, a concave side scraper and a number of blades. Several waste flakes and chert débitage were indicative of lithic production on site (Joanna Nolan, pers. comm.). The technology evidenced in these artefacts is typical of the Neolithic.
The house was located on a sheltered south-facing slope in fertile, well-drained soil. This may indicate a domestic or agricultural function. The lithic evidence firmly dates it to the Neolithic and a radiocarbon sample should yield a more exact date. It also establishes one activity that took place on site.
Kiln
Several areas of burning were examined adjacent to the Neolithic house. One of these proved to be of interest. It was located c. 30m to the north-east of the house but is likely to be of much later construction. It consisted of a 3m by 5m area of charcoal-rich clay and ash. On excavation, two cuts in the subsoil were identified. One was a circular pit. The other was an elongated stone-lined pit with an internal division of upright flat stones, which separated charcoal-blackened clay and red ash. It is tentatively described as a corn-drying kiln.
Westport Road, Castlebar, Co. Mayo
