2014:141 - Seamount, Seamount Road, Malahide, Dublin

Note: updated 18/10/2017 with Radiocarbon Dates.

An archaeological site, identified during topsoil stripping following assessment and geophysics (Licence No. 08R0289), was excavated between August and September 2014. The 11.5ha site was situated on the former lands of Seamount House, Seamount Road, Malahide, Co. Dublin, and was bounded to the north and east by the townland boundary between Malahide and Robswall.

The site is situated in an elevated location just to the south of the crest of Malahide Hill with spectacular views overlooking the entire coast of North Dublin. The panoramic views encompass Lusk, the seafront at Rush and Donabate, and Lambay Island to the North, Howth, Sutton and Ireland's Eye to the south-east, and into Dublin Bay with Dalkey headland, Dalkey Island and the Wicklow Mountains visible to the south. A line of archaeological monuments ran along the crest of the hill down towards the sea. Two are situated on the site: a circular mound shown on the first and second OS 6-inch maps near the highest point of the hill (DU012-032), which no longer survives, and a ring-ditch 50m south-west of the mound along the ridge. A dozen other prehistoric monuments and sites have been identified along this crest to the west (information from RMP files; Excavations.ie records; Duncan’s map 1821, etc.).

The ring ditch is best interpreted as a prehistoric monument, part of the wider ceremonial landscape along the crest of Malahide Hill. Part of the arc of the circular ditch, which measured 2m in width and just over 1m in depth, was found and excavated. The ditch appears to have enclosed a small area c. 9m in diameter on the crest of the ridge. No features were identified in the internal area, however this had been mostly truncated away. Large flat stones in the lowest fills of the ditch probably fell inside from above, and may once have formed part of a revetment to the earthen mound or bank. Radiocarbon dating returned a Late Bronze Age date (997-839 BC at 2 sigma Poz 93590) from cherry charcoal from the basal fill of the barrow ditch. This ring ditch showed evidence for re-cutting after it had fallen out of use, which must represent its rededication as a ritual monument. Birch charcoal from this second phase returned a Final Bronze Age or Iron Age radiocarbon date (751-406 BC at 2 sigma Poz 93589). The partial cremated remains of a human adult (only the hand was identified) (C24) was found at the base of the re-cut ditch. A third phase was also identified in the uppermost fill of the barrow ditch, which contained a large amount of animal bone representing well-preserved primary butchery waste. The faunal assemblage was dominated by cattle, pig, horse and deer, and was very similar to the animal bone remains of the early medieval settlement to the south. The upper fill also contained an unburnt adult left and right femur, interpreted as charnel from a possible early medieval burial nearby.

The interpretation of the excavation results suggested this site may provide evidence for the persistence of pre-Christian (pagan) ritual during the early medieval period, and explored possible mechanisms and reasons for this, linking the monuments and the farmstead with the local placename of Seamount (possibly from Sidhe Manannan, Manannan being a mythological sea god, and sidhe meaning a mound that formed a connection to the underworld).

A heavily truncated Late Bronze Age penannular enclosure 24m in internal diameter was excavated further down the hill, with an undug opening to the northeast providing an entrance. Radiocarbon dating of wild cherry charcoal from the enclosure fill returned a date of 841-1050 BC (Sigma 2; Poz 93370). Fragments from a Late Bronze Age large domestic vessel and a cremated human leg bone (possibly representing a token cremation burial) were identified nearby in the upper fill of a nearby probable early medieval charcoal manufacturing pit kiln, and may have originally been associated with the penannular enclosure.

A complex of archaeological features was situated between the penannular enclosure and the prehistoric monuments on the hill. Charcoal from various features in this complex returned radiocarbon dates of 659-772 (2 Sigma; Poz-93358), 656-853 (2 Sigma; Poz-93369), 694-889 (2 Sigma; Poz-93368) and 772-967 (2 sigma; Poz-93346) and 720-941 AD (2 Sigma; Poz-93358). A sixth date from the complex which returned a date of 1664-1914 & later (2 sigma; Poz-93692) from willow charcoal reflects later post-medieval and modern agricultural activity. The dates suggest occupation in the early medieval period centred on the 8th century AD, with two non-overlapping concentrations of activity spread across an early phase c. 670-760 (two dates; 1 Sigma) and a later phase c.775-875 (three dates; 1 Sigma).

Unlike the other two archaeological features on the site, this complex was not defined by a circular shape. Instead, ditches defined irregular spaces with a wide range of functions, and were themselves used for resource processing. This contrasts with the barrow and circular enclosure, which were sharply and carefully defined by their circular forms. The complex was centred on a stony natural outcrop situated on a shelf along the hillside slope. A curving ditch partially encircled this stony outcrop, then extended straight up the hillslope to one of the prehistoric monuments (DU012-032). The linear part of this ditch may have defined a property or field boundary using the prehistoric barrow as a topographical landmark. Where the ditch curved around the stony outcrop, it changed its shape and incorporated a small access point to allow for a person to climb down into the ditch along a gently-sloping ramp. A crude stone wall or sluice gate was constructed within the ditch at this point. A number of internal slot trenches, pits, keyhole-shaped corn-drying kilns, a charcoal-manufacturing kiln, and a defined entrance were also identified. The corn-drying kilns, charcoal kiln, animal remains processing and shell processing all suggest small-scale resource processing activities consistent with what would be required for a single self-sufficient farmstead. A particularly high concentration of marine shell was identified in the early medieval features, particularly around the ditch's sluice gate and series of sunken pits. The economic well-being of the early medieval farmers appeared to have been primarily dependent on sea-based resources.

The animal bone assemblage recovered from this arcing ditch area comprised well-preserved primary butchery waste. The assemblage was dominated by cattle and sheep/goat, as well as pig, horse and dog. These are all domesticated species which would have formed part of a typical diet in an early medieval settlement or, in the cases of the horse and dog, would have been domesticated within the settlement.

Environmental analysis of the grains identified in the early medieval corn-drying kilns showed cultivated varieties of barley and oat, and a small amount of wheat, though one kiln had a lower proportion of oats. The high incidence of oat and barley in contrast to wheat in the kilns has been identified at other Irish early medieval sites. The charcoal from the kilns comprised a mixed wood assemblage comprising hazel, wild cherry/cherry, ash, willow and pomaceous woods, which is in keeping with charcoal results from medieval kiln deposits (though a slightly different wood proportion was noted in the kiln with less oats).

A house named 'Seamount' appears at this location on cartographic sources from the early 19th century. The layout of the grounds of Seamount House reflects the archaeological features found during the 2014 excavation in a number of surprising ways. Prehistoric, early medieval and medieval features were all echoed by the 18th- and 19th-century landscape. The archaeologists interpreted this through the prism of changing attitudes to gardens in the 18th and 19th centuries. The preservation of the archaeological monuments in the post-medieval landscape at Seamount House is seen as a process of cultural repossession and appropriation by successive generations. This is directly comparable to the same processes described above by which the prehistoric monuments were reinterpreted by early medieval farmers.

The final report can be downloaded from www.archaeologyplan.com/projects

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