County: Kerry Site name: CAHEREHILLAN
Sites and Monuments Record No.: SMR 70:43 Licence number: 93E0073
Author: John Sheehan, Department of Archaeology, University College Cork
Site type: Ecclesiastical enclosure
Period/Dating: Early Medieval (AD 400-AD 1099)
ITM: E 457180m, N 583560m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 51.985709, -10.079369
The excavations at this site, which are being undertaken as part of UCC’s undergraduate training programme, continued during April 2002.
The excavation of the entire south-west quadrant of the enclosure was completed during this season. The features in this area included a compact, gravelly soil layer close to the southern line of the enclosure wall. This layer was cut into by a number of deep post-holes and appeared to be a redeposited layer of made-up material that created a level ground surface in this low-lying part of the site. After the removal of this layer an east–west-oriented linear ditch, with sharp sides and a flat base, was uncovered inside the southern line of the enclosure wall. This ditch, which was cut into the B-horizon subsoil, extended under the east baulk and, where exposed, was 7.43m long, 2m wide and 0.8m deep. The remnants of a number of deposits associated with metalworking activities were excavated in the area to the west, and no further archaeological features were uncovered.
The excavation of the leacht shrine structure in the eastern half of the enclosure continued. This shrine was overlain and surrounded by a number of ceallúnach burials, and all of these have been previously excavated. A number of thin deposits in the shrine were excavated during the 2002 season, and some sherds of early medieval imported pottery were recovered. The base of this structure was reached, and it was found to overlie an earlier, stone-lined grave, which was sealed by a number stone lintels. A second grave, of the same construction, was uncovered to the north of the shrine. Both of these graves were oriented east–west, and they were similar in dimensions and form to a number of early medieval adult graves previously excavated in the area to the north.
A new trench was excavated in the ceallúnach burial-ground, to the north of the shrine structure. It was opened in order to establish the stratigraphic relationship between the early medieval burials previously excavated in the trench to the west and the leacht shrine to the south. Another purpose in opening this trench was to examine a larger area of the north-east quadrant of the enclosure to establish whether any structural remains were present. Thirteen ceallúnach graves were excavated in this trench during the 2002 season.
