2005:1084 - WATERUNDER, Mell, Louth

The site at Waterunder, Mell, Co. Louth, was identified during monitoring of development-related groundworks (Excavations 2004, No. 1118, 04E1687). It was located to the north of the River Boyne and west of Kenny’s Stream and measured c. 80m by 80m. Excavation identified five levels of archaeological activity on site.

At the earliest level were the remains of a circular structure, which was dated by radiocarbon analysis to the Early Neolithic (3820–3690 cal BC). Structure A was c. 10m in diameter and was built on a south-east-facing slope at 35.9m OD. The structure comprised four curving slot-trenches, which formed an arc around the north-western extent of a metalled floor surface. The slot-trenches extended from the north-west to the south-east for c. 8m. The trenches were generally c. 2m long, 0.6–0.8m wide and up to 0.6m deep, but the south-eastern trench, F168, was only 1.1m long and 0.24m wide. There was a post-hole (0.3m in diameter and 0.15m deep) at the western end of the structure. Stone packing at the base of two of the trenches indicates that they supported a fairly substantial post and plank structure. Two levels of fill were evident within two of the trenches, but the other two trenches had only one fill. There was no evidence for an internal hearth or associated occupation levels, which suggests that Early Neolithic occupation on the site at Mell was temporary or short-lived.

The next level was dated to the Beaker period (c. 24000–2200 BC) and was represented by two successive phases of occupation and an inhumation burial. The site of Structure A, which had long since decayed, was reoccupied and three occupation deposits built up. Excavation recovered up to 500 sherds of Beaker pottery, most notably a polypod bowl sherd and worked flint. The deposits probably formed within a dwelling, but there was no evidence for any such structural remains. However, the presence of Beaker-period structures elsewhere on site was suggested by two post-holes located c. 10m to the east and two c. 47m to the north-east of the occupation deposits. A hearth, several cooking pits and rubbish pits near these post-holes probably result from associated domestic activity.

There was a crouched inhumation burial on high ground c. 60m north-west of the occupation deposits. The body was interred in a prone position in a partially stone-lined grave, which was 1.5m long, 0.85–1.2m wide and 0.25–0.35m deep. The remains were in a poor state of preservation but were identified as those of an adult female. Two flint scrapers and a flake accompanied the burial and a sample of bone was dated to 2490–2200 cal BC.

Evidence for domestic activity during Level 3 came from a sherd of Late Bronze Age pottery (c. 1100–800 BC) recovered during monitoring, but which was not associated with any context.

Four phases of activity were identified within Level 4, which dates to the Iron Age. Phase 1 was characterised by the truncated remains of a penannular enclosure sited on the top of the hill on the eastern part of the site. The enclosure was 12m in diameter and the enclosing ditch was 28m in circumference and 1.2m wide. The ditch was heavily truncated and was only 0.01–0.2m deep. There was a wide (12m) gap or entrance at the north-western end of the enclosure and a small (5.8m by 4.5m) deposit along the western interior may be the remains of a bank. Two stake-holes (0.1m in diameter) and burnt ash and alder planks within the enclosing ditch suggest that it supported a structure of some sort. Dates of 770–400 and 520–360 cal BC were obtained for the enclosure. Three post-holes suggest that a structure stood within the western area of the enclosure, but its ground plan was no longer evident. The post-holes were 0.5m long, 0.35m wide and between 0.05–0.08m deep. A hearth and several pits near the enclosure were also indicative of domestic occupation. A second phase of occupation was evident from a pit, post-hole and a stake-hole, which cut through Phase 1 features.

Seven large post-holes arranged in an arc represented Structure B, which was 10m to the south-east of the penannular enclosure. The post-holes enclosed an area measuring 10m by 8m and ranged from 0.25 to 0.56m in diameter and 0.12 to 0.14m deep. The posts within three of the post-holes had burnt in situ. There was no evidence for a floor surface or occupation deposit associated with this structure, but a cooking pit and several rubbish pits in the vicinity were indicative of domestic occupation. The rubbish pits were 0.72–1.6m long, 0.58–0.9m wide and 0.08–0.2m deep. The cooking pit was 0.73m by 0.55m and 0.09m deep. There were inclusions of charcoal and burnt bone within their fills, but no datable finds were recovered from either the post-holes or pits. However, their proximity to the penannular enclosure and Structure B indicates that they are probably contemporary.

The third phase of occupation during Level 4 was represented by a curvilinear ditch, which cut the south-eastern edge of the penannular enclosure. The ditch was oriented north-east/south-west and was 40m long, 0.9–2.2m wide and 0.3–0.46m deep. The only find from this ditch was a broken copper-alloy artefact, which did not provide any precise dating evidence, but the lack of pottery suggests that it is more than likely to be Iron Age.

Level 4, Phase 4, was characterised by industrial activity which involved the production of iron in seven bowl furnaces and the processing of cereal in sixteen kilns. The bowl furnaces were located in the western part of the site and, with the exception of F73, they were arranged in pairs. They were circular in plan and one of the pair was generally larger than the other. The smaller furnaces averaged 0.2m wide and 0.2m deep and the larger pits were 0.75–0.9m wide and 0.35–0.5m deep. Their fills comprised charcoal and slag. Late Iron Age dates were obtained for one of the bowl furnaces (170 BC to cal AD 60 ). The kilns were spread right across the northern part of the site. The majority (eleven) were figure-of-eight-shaped, but there were also subrectangular (three) and key-hole-shaped (two) examples. They were 0.92–2.9m long and 0.62–1.62m wide. The fire bowls were mostly located at the northern end of the kilns, but there were some in the southern (four eastern (two) and western (one) ends. The majority of kilns were used for drying cereal and some had evidence for multiple firings. Two of the kilns returned Late Iron Age dates (cal AD 380–550 and cal AD 340–540) and the others are probably more or less contemporary. The most commonly identified grain was barley, but wheat and oat were also present. Cultivated oat seeds identified from one of the dated kilns show that oats were grown in the vicinity at a relatively early date.

Level 5 dates from the post-medieval period (c. 1700–1900 AD). It was represented by agricultural features which included a field boundary dated to the 17th–mid-18th century and a circular pit or well dating from the 18th century. The land on which the site was located would have been farmed by the occupants of Waterunder cottage during the 19th and 20th centuries.

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