2002:0924 - KILLICKAWEENY, Kildare

Large-scale excavation of an early medieval enclosure was undertaken in the townland of Killickaweeny, Co. Kildare, as part of the M4 Kinnegad–Enfield–Kilcock Motorway Scheme. The site was c. 4km west of Kilcock town. There was no indication of the presence of a site before initial field assessment. The site was identified through an aerial photography survey along the proposed motorway corridor in May 2001. It was interpreted in the environmental impact statement as a crescentic feature, c. 18m long, along with removed field boundaries.

Testing by Shane Delaney revealed numerous pits and gullies, from which large amounts of animal bone, some metal objects and a blue glass bead were recovered. Geophysical survey on the site suggested the presence of an enclosure, which was subsequently proven after topsoil-stripping.

As a result a full excavation of the site was initiated in July 2002, with a staff of 25–35 archaeologists. Works on-site were completed in late November of the same year. The total area of the site was 5500m2. Extensive archaeological deposits were uncovered throughout the main body of the site, consisting of structures, refuse pits and metalworking areas. These features were enclosed by a large, heart-shaped, ditched enclosure.

The heart-shaped enclosure had an approximate diameter of 60–70m. No trace of a bank was noted, although this was to be expected as the whole site had been extensively cultivated throughout the ages. This was evident in the many cultivation furrows regularly cutting the natural subsoil across the entire site. No entrance was identified, although one may have existed in the south-east corner, where an existing field boundary had disturbed the section of the enclosure. The ditch was fairly regular throughout its length. It was on average 2.5m wide and 1.3m deep, generally U-shaped in profile but V-shaped in its southern sections. In the most part the ditch fills suggest that it filled naturally with seasonal deposits. Only in the northernmost section of the ditch was there evidence of a recut. This was probably a result of its being topographically the lowest part of the enclosure ditch, where all wash material from the rest of the ditch would have accumulated. The northern sections also contained most of the artefactual evidence from the ditch. Large amounts of metallurgical waste, some antler picks, animal bone (some butchered) and abundant fragments of mollusc shell were recovered from these sections. Two earlier ditches were excavated in the eastern extent of the site. The inner ditch may have been an earlier manifestation of the main ditch that was subsequently abandoned in favour of the larger enclosure. The outer, L-shaped ditch may have defined an enclosed area, perhaps for livestock.

The internal area of the site produced evidence of a number of structures with associated pits and gullies. Central to this was a large subrectangular house structure (Structure B) measuring 8.5m east–west by 6m. This was defined by an irregular slot-trench with a maximum width of 0.5m and maximum depth of 0.29m. Finds from the fills of the slot included butchered bone and a whetstone. A small pit that cut the north-west corner of this structure contained two blue glass beads. An entrance was identified at the south-east corner of the structure that may have been protected from northern winds by a windbreak or an annexe defined by a curvilinear slot-trench oriented east–west from the entrance feature. Three regularly spaced stone-packed post-holes situated just off-centre to the structure may have held roof supports, and a hearth was represented by a shallow area of burnt clay, again just off-centre to the structure.

A smaller subrectangular structure (Structure C) was identified immediately north-west of this. Again, the entrance was at the south-east corner; no internal features were present. It measured c. 5m east–west by 5m.

A third structure (Structure A), c. 15m to the south-east of the second, was defined by a collection of pits and stone-packed post-holes centred on a hearth feature. The hearth was associated with a number of stake-holes that may have held a series of spits over the fire.

Each structure was associated with a number of unusual refuse pits, some of which were quite large. The largest measured 2.5m by 1.6m and was 1.1m deep. Most of the pits were almost perfectly square or rectangular. Each pit contained large amounts of animal bone and a range of artefacts including decorated glass beads, bone pins, iron ring-pins, knife blades and spindle-whorls. Three square-ended linear gullies also fall under this category, all of which contained similar fills and a similar stratigraphic sequence. The function of these features is unclear at this time. A decorated bone comb was recovered from one such feature. A total of c. 9000 pieces of animal bone were recovered from features on-site. Some of the bone had been worked into small tools; some was burnt; and large amounts were butchered.

The most impressive feature on-site was a large pit or cistern that measured 2.2m in diameter and was 1.8m deep. It was situated close to Structures B and C. Even in the driest conditions, it was permanently full of water. If the water table had been relatively similar to that of today, this pit would have supplied a ready source of water for domestic and perhaps industrial usage. It was immediately adjacent to the main metalworking area. Large amounts of slag, animal bone and organic remains were recovered from the pit, in addition to a beautiful rotary quernstone.

A number of metalworking areas were identified in the form of possible bowl furnaces and curvilinear gullies containing metallurgical waste. At the eastern side of the site a possible shaft furnace was tentatively identified. This feature had a distinctive figure-of-eight shape and contained high concentrations of slag waste and some furnace bottom. There was also evidence of in situ burning and large amounts of charcoal in one end of the feature. The charcoal would have been the primary fuel for the furnace.

Most of the artefacts recovered were iron based. It is possible that the raw material for their manufacture came from a nearby bog in the form of bog iron. It appears that unprocessed bog iron was recovered from some features on-site, and it is hoped that further laboratory analysis will verify this. It is also possible that some of the artefacts found were manufactured on-site. The recovery of a possible mould/crucible, furnace bases and evidence of two or three tuyères from the site helps to strengthen this argument.

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