2014:469 - RATHNADRINNA FORT, Lalor's-Lot, Tipperary

The Season Three excavation was undertaken over six weeks from 14 July until August 23 2014, focusing on completing the excavation previously begun in Cuttings 1 and 2, and opening a number of new cuttings. Season Three was fully funded by the Royal Irish Academy, with funding also from the County Tipperary Community Tourism Diaspora Grant Scheme 2014.

Cutting 1b covered the areas of the fort banks and ditches. The excavation of an 18m² section through Bank 4 was fully completed. Stake-holes, post-holes, one hearth and pits were uncovered. Alder charcoal from fill (737) of pit [736], sealed beneath the innermost rampart, was dated to 1222‒934 cal. BC (UBA-31623). This is the first Bishopsland Phase date from a hilltop fort in Cashel.

Cutting 1c focused on completing the excavation of a 33m² cutting inside the fort. The earliest features were two circular geophysical anomalies identified as shallow, narrow and sterile. They were sealed by c. 20 circular/sub-circular wall-slots, interpreted as successive house plots. In some cases, seven wall-slots were found superimposed one upon the other. The internal diameters ranged between 3.1–5.24m. The houses were generally formed by lines of stake-holes within a narrow slot-trench. A small, thin piece of Cu-alloy was found from one wall-slot. The circuit of wall-slot [1531] had truncated other wall-slots and was itself cut by further wall-slots. Hazel charcoal from fill (1532) of [1531] was dated 1966‒1695 cal. BC (UBA-32487). Further dating is required from suitable samples from these wall-slots.

Cutting 2 measuring 25m² focused on a pit-circle geophysics anomaly. The pit was over 2m wide, but sterile. The pit is one of many in a circuit on the hillside; a wood henge function is likely. Once infilled the pit had been cut by a smaller pit and later posts. A nearby c. 30m flat-bottomed ditch [568] was back-filled soon after its creation, with no accumulation of silt, or domestic dumping. Once infilled, ditch [568] was lined with large, flat-bottomed /rounded posts, erected along its sides and centre. The purpose of ditch [568] is unknown but it could have parallels with Iron Age ritual features at other high status sites. Post-hole [680] had truncated the final infilling episode of ditch [568], and alder charcoal was dated to 360‒63 cal. BC (UBA-32486). This date confirmed ditch [568] had gone out of use prior to this event, perhaps during the nearby Early Iron Age activity associated with ditch [124]. No artefacts were retrieved from these features and their full excavation was completed in Season Three.

Cutting 3 measuring 25m² targeted the continuation of ditch [568]—excavated in Cutting 2—recording its intersection with the linear pre-fort ditch [124]. Later deposits from ditch [124] contained willow charcoals dated 748–405 cal. BC (UBA-24977) and 771–485 cal. BC (UBA-24975). Excavation verified ditch [568] terminated within ditch [124], and therefore dates from the Early Iron Age period or later. When both ditches had filled-up a non-ferrous metal-working area was created here, its associated cobbled surfaces (1706) sealing the earlier ditches. A number of charcoal-rich pits, some containing charred worked wood, and an L-shaped post alignment were also found here. Hazel charcoal from a charcoal-rich pit sealing cobbles (1706) was radiocarbon dated to cal. AD 94–339 (UBA-31624), firmly within the Roman period/Late Iron Age. The significance of discovering Late Iron Age metalworking from within a hilltop fort in a burgeoning royal landscape cannot be overstated.

Cutting 3a, a small extension to the south-west corner of Cutting 3, was designed to expose fully a metal-working pit partially revealed in Cutting 3. Measuring 1.5m (east-west) by 1.5m, 3m² the extension uncovered pit [1256] and excavation revealed Cu alloy slag and metal-working ceramic fragments from within. The pit had been dug into the top of a much deeper pit, the sides and base of which were burnt in situ. Further quantities of charcoal (including barley) and some burnt and unburnt bones may suggest this pit was originally domestic in character, although its sides and base had been subjected to intensive scorching.

Cutting 4 was a 4m² cutting located over the find-spot of the reliquary stud mount, recovered in 2013. A preliminary examination of the stud mount suggests a date of around the 8th century, or perhaps earlier. Excavation here was to the base of the topsoil only. All the excavated clay was hand sieved, metal-detected and checked for additional elements of the reliquary; none were found. The excavation did uncover sporadic stone-tumble from the top of the innermost bank, plus a layer of closely-set cobbles at the base. These stones may have been part of landscaping the fort interior, helping to drain surface water.

Cutting 5 measuring 9m² was positioned between cutting 1c and cutting 3. It was located over a number of discrete geophysical anomalies. The eastern side of the cutting contained a number of intercutting curvilinear slots, representing the western circuit of the same houses found in Cutting 1c. The western side of the cutting contained layers of densely-packed pebbles, with no intervening clay, or silt build-up. These layers are interpreted as footpaths to the rear of the houses.

Metal-detecting of the fort under Detection Licence No. 12R0064 identified slag, nails, iron, coins, and Cu alloy objects were plotted. A lead plaque depicting Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn’s The Night Watch – the Militia Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq, first painted in 1642, was also found. This object may have been brought to the fort in the 18th century to melt the lead for musket balls: a number of musket balls were found across the site. Stratified finds from Season Three included worked lithics (including debitage), worked stones, burnt and unburned bones (presumably faunal), Cu alloy objects, slag, charred worked wood and ceramics (crucibles?). In conclusion, the accumulative evidence has revealed a complex story of multi-period human activity on Rathnadrinna hillside.