2006:1533 - Clowanstown 1, Meath

This site was located within Contract 2 (Dunshaughlin to Navan) of the proposed M3 Clonee to north of Kells motorway and was identified during advance testing by Jonathan Dempsey in spring 2004 (04E0418). Topographical and environmental work commenced in advance of excavation in September 2006. Full resolution revealed a probable Mesolithic fishing platform and Neolithic burnt mounds located near the centre of a former lough.
Five mounds were situated at the western edge of a raised bog, including organic sediments up to 3.45m deep, overlying thick, shell-rich marl and sealing probable gravels and sands laid down at the base of a small lough. It seems likely that deposition of the basal silts commenced reasonably early in the Holocene.
An early mooring
Six substantial stakes defined a rough arc around the landward side of the central depression and these perhaps provided a structure to fish from as well as a potential mooring for a dugout. A number of large stones may be ballast or anchor stones. The stakes were driven up to 1.85m into the underlying marl, while three had subsided considerably, suggesting a heavy weight on them. Two stakes had not been sharpened, thus demonstrating the saturated state of the underlying strata when they were inserted. Within the central depression, two pairs of conical baskets of rush or reed were found. One measured 1.12m long by c. 0.4m in diameter at the open end and was finished with a double row of twining. The closed end appeared to have previously been externally bound and trimmed. Small stones weighted the baskets in position, which were probably baited or provided with funnel entrances. A number of c. 20mm-diameter fire-hardened stakes and woodchips were found in the immediate vicinity. The woodchips were apparently of stone-axe cut timber. Occasional larger stones were present, including a hone stone.
Baskets found at Clowanstown 1
To the east, additional stakes, a small wooden plank and an unidentified carved wooden object were recorded. The wooden object appears superficially similar to a dugout canoe but is only 360mm long and may have been a toy, a carpenter’s model, a votive offering, or perhaps even a functional container with no intended similarity to dugouts.
As the lough dried up, a number of drainage gullies developed and sphagnum peat began to form.
The platform
A natural platform beside three flooded depressions was the focus of apparent Late Mesolithic activity. A sub-oval layer of burnt timbers consolidated the platform, measuring c. 7m by 5.9m. A later trough removed a probable central hearth and truncated a post-hole. Two thin stakes deeply driven in on either side of this central area may have supported a rack for smoking fish. Finds retrieved were: a number of burnt stake ends; flint, chert and siltstone leaf-shaped flakes, points and blades; hazelnut shells; and occasional stones and animal bones. It seems likely that this layer may represent the collapse of a small, Late Mesolithic structure designed for preparing fish and fishing equipment. This is likely to have involved: repairing, baiting and emptying baskets; hardening and sharpening stakes and spears; and preparing, smoking and eating fish. A period of relative abandonment was characterised by the slow build-up of humified sphagnum peat and scrub as the lough retreated.
The burnt mounds
Activity recommenced on the site, when the central depression (Mound A) was infilled with redeposited marl and limestone. No extraction site has been recognised for the marl, although it appears similar to layers located 1m below. Both the marl and the stone appear to have been locally imported.
Mound A
Within Mound A a conspicuous sequence of at least nine burnt layers, where each was sealed by a layer of redeposited marl and limestone, gradually raised the mound above its surroundings. Each burnt layer included charcoal, burnt sandstone and limestone fragments and very occasional fragments of carinated bowl. Seven subrectangular troughs, varying from 3.8m to 6.5m in length by 1.8m to 2.6m by c. 0.4m average depth, related to the successive phases of burning. Many of the troughs had primary layers of burnt sandstone and limestone and most had been backfilled with peat. A shallow, bowl-shaped pit was positioned down-slope of each trough with the exception of one. The troughs were positioned progressively further down-slope and away from Mound A so that the furthest one was over 20m away. The furthest troughs may relate to Mound C.
Immediately to the south-east of Mound A and beneath Mound C, two spreads of crushed cremated bone, occasional fragments of carinated bowl, burnt flint and occasional lithics had been trampled into the peat. One near-complete carinated bowl included burnt internal residue. A number of highly structured deposits involving redeposited marl, crushed cremated bone, burnt flint and fragments of carinated bowl had been deposited beneath Mounds C and D, apparently concentrated on the artificially extended natural depressions beneath the centre of each. The primary deposit beneath Mound C was interned in a wooden or bark container measuring c. 0.65m diameter by 0.12m deep.
Mound D
This was a low, crescent-shaped mound of burnt stone waste derived from Mound A, measuring c. 15m by 7m, which surrounded the landward side of Mound A.
Mound E
A fifth mound, to the south of Mound A, also centred on a series of structured, crushed, cremated bone deposits, which also included a small stone mortar.
Decommissioning of the site
The centre of Mound A was recut for a cylindrical wooden container. This container measured c. 0.65m in external diameter, c. 0.45m internal diameter by 0.72m maximum surviving length and was made of a single trunk. It had an external rebate, presumably to allow a composite wooden base to be bound in place. This had been replaced with quarried limestone slabs (G. Cooney, pers. comm.) and a redeposited marl layer. Two holes of c. 25mm diameter were cut into this rebate c. 120mm apart. This container may originally have held a liquid.
Mounds A, C, D and E were all sealed with burnt-cairn material, forming a monument over each. A more extensive stone spread then sealed the cairn material, including a number of lithic and bone finds as well as evidence for at least seven animal skulls (Mound C) and further crushed cremated bone, including predominately cattle, sheep/goat, occasional pig, bird and small mammal. The lithic finds included three polished stone axes, a polished stone wedge, three polished stone pendants and at least three polished bone pins, as well as leaf-shaped projectile points and scrapers. These final stone sealing layers appeared to have effectively consolidated access between the mounds, creating an enduring monument.