Habitation site in Poppintree (castleknock By.) — Report the wrong picture

What is recorded here

Three deep cess pits marked the edge of a early medieval home in Poppintree, their bases packed with forgotten fruit seeds and animal bones. A lathe-turned wooden vessel with a lid survived in one pit, dating the place to roughly AD 891-1013. The occupants likely lived nearby, enjoying plums, hazelnuts and the company of dogs, horses and livestock before backing the pits in when they failed.

A cluster of pits and a ditch were excavated (Licence no. 05E0644) in advance of a residential development. Three of the pits were interpreted as cess pits and were located in a line 7m-15m from each other. On average 1.8m deep the base of the pits consisted of organic silt. A wooden vessel with a lid was recovered form one of the pits. Lathe turned from a single piece of wood, it was radiocarbon dated to cal. AD 891-1013. Analysis of a basal sample from the same pit identified wild and cultivated species including plum seeds, blackberries, raspberries and hazelnuts. Animal bones recovered were identified as cow, sheep/goat, pig horse and dog. All the pits were backfilled once they had gone out of use and have been interpreted as probably having been located on the verges of settlement (McCarthy 2008, 29). Compiled by: Christine Baker Date of upload: 6 February 2015

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