County: Tipperary Site name: Camlin 3
Sites and Monuments Record No.: TN017–031 Licence number: E003580
Author: Colm Flynn, Valerie J. Keeley Ltd, Brehon House, Kilkenny Road, Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny.
Site type: Multi-period
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 613759m, N 685761m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.922502, -7.795381
Testing along the route of the proposed N7 Castletown–Nenagh road improvement scheme identified a complex of archaeological features in and around an existing levelled enclosure, of which c. 40% lies within the road-take. Excavation began in August 2007 (Excavations 2007, No. 1598) and continued into 2008. A complex of archaeological features spread over an area of over 30,000m2 provided evidence of several archaeological periods:
A pit containing burnt flint and over 40 sherds of round-bottomed Western Neolithic pottery was excavated. The pottery has been typologically dated to c. 3650 bc.
A subcircular enclosure measuring 25m in diameter was identified. This enclosure was formed by a continuous stone-lined slot-trench, which likely supported a wooden palisade of both planks and posts. An entranceway was identified in the south-east of the slot-trench. An oval structure was identified within the interior of the enclosure. Sherds of Middle Bronze Age pottery were recovered from the entrance post-holes of this structure.
The principal feature of the site was an early medieval enclosure (TN017–031), of which c. 40% was excavated. The enclosing element was a 5–6m wide, 2m deep, curvilinear ditch, with traces of an internal bank. Within the interior of the enclosure an inhumation cemetery and six buildings were identified. The cemetery was located in the eastern area of the enclosure. The main concentration of burials was contained within an area defined by an L-shaped ditch and the enclosure ditch. In total 151 human skeletons were recovered from the cemetery, and one skeleton was recovered from the enclosure ditch.
Three of the buildings identified were subcircular in plan; the other three were rectangular. The subcircular buildings predated the rectangular buildings. Evidence of metalworking, butchery, tool-making and cooking was identified within the interiors of the buildings and in their environs indicating a possible domestic dwelling function for some of the buildings.
Outside of the enclosure six other possibly related and contemporary circular or subcircular buildings were identified.
A stone clapper-bridge was identified. This feature crossed a curvilinear field boundary which is depicted on the first-edition OS maps of the area.
A rectangular building that measured 11m long and 7m wide was identified. This building had an internal dividing wall and opened towards the north-east. A 17th-century clay-pipe bowl was recovered from the fill of the foundation trench.
