2009:865 - LUGDUFF, Wicklow

Trial excavations of charcoal-production sites in Lugduff, Glendalough, were conducted by the UCD School of Archaeology as part of its training fieldwork programme. The excavations focused on three platforms cut into the hillside immediately west of Reefert Church. These platforms were first identified by Paddy Healy in 1972, with a 17th/18thcentury date, and they form part of a dense scatter of such sites around the upper lake (Healy 1972, Nos 76–78). Construction of most platforms appears to have involved cutting a shallow scoop into the hill slope and throwing this out in front to form a circular platform and in some cases a low wall was constructed at the rear. The three platforms investigated are located in close proximity to each other, 22–24m apart.
Trench 1 was located on Platform 78 previously investigated by Healy in two L-shaped trenches in 1972 (WI023–029004; 310778 196086). The platform is subrectangular, measuring 8m by 5m and orientated east–west across the slope. A drystone revetment (C107) of up to four courses was at the base of the slope. Trench 1 was 4.6m long (north–south) and 2m wide incorporating one of Healy’s earlier excavation trenches. A thin layer of topsoil was removed to expose a layer (C101) up to 0.12m in depth composed of loose, black silt rich in charcoal and fragments of heat-shattered schist. It contained a brick and a Guinness bottle, suggesting disturbance relating to Healy’s trench (C105) which was identified cutting through C101. At the southern end, C101 overlay a compact grey/brown silty clay (C102) with very few inclusions, which in turn sealed heat-affected subsoils. A thin layer of black/brown silt with charcoal and heat-shattered schist stone fragments (C104) underlay C101 at the northern end and was sampled for dating and environmental analysis. The maximum depth of excavation was 0.3m at the southern end of the trench. The drystone wall (C107) sat directly on top of the subsoil, which, at the southern, upslope end, was a surface created by cutting into the hillside. At the northern end it is likely that the material was redeposited to extend the platform downslope but this was not exposed as part of the excavation. The excavation showed that the deposits are slightly more complex than those revealed in the 1972 investigation, with at least three separate layers of material. C101 represents the main charcoal-production episode and debris from this production process may have been cleaned off the platform down the slope resulting in the deposition of C104. C102 is a clean layer and may reflect a period of abandonment. No artefacts related to the use of the site were recovered and analysis of samples from the excavation is pending.
Trench 2 (7m by 11m) was located on Platform 77 as identified by Healy’s survey (WI023–029003; 310762 196104). A slot-trench 6m by 1.5m was oriented north–south running down the slope incorporating several large rocks visible on the surface. The top layer consisted of a grassy sod on a loose brown/black humic silty clay containing a small number of modern finds, suggesting recent disturbance. Beneath this was a rocky layer containing small and large schist slabs which was excavated in a sondage 2m by 1.5m and 0.51–0.68m in depth, representing significant slippage from the slope above. This directly overlay a layer 0.04–0.32m in depth composed almost entirely of charcoal. Most of the charcoal was <50mm in size and this layer was extensively sampled for dating and palaeoenvironmental studies. Beneath the charcoal was a basal layer of fire-reddened gravel representing the prepared surface of the site. No stratified finds were recovered and it appeared that the episode of slumping sealed the charcoal layer, leaving it undisturbed.
Trench 3 was a test-pit 0.5m by 0.5m excavated to a depth of 0.5m through a third, smaller platform (5m by 3.5m) identified as No. 76 by Healy (WI023–029004; 310778 196086). It produced traces of charcoal which were sampled for dating purposes.
Reference
Healy, P. 1972 Supplementary Survey of the Ancient Monuments at Glendalough, Co. Wicklow. Unpublished report commissioned by the Office of Public Works.