Enclosure in Knowth — Report the wrong picture

What is recorded here

Two curved palisade trenches still mark a lost circle beside the great mound, enclosing perhaps twelve thousand paces of Later Western Neolithic life. Pebble scrapers, hearths and Western Neolithic pottery suggest people worked, ate and waited inside that vanished ring. The palisade cuts through an older house and even covers a tomb kerb, proving the enclosure came later and claimed space already sacred.

This is part of Eogan’s (1984, 219-39) Phase 2 Later Western Neolithic material found W of the great mound, Tomb 1C, which is now dated to c. 3600-3500 cal. BC with the aid of Bayesian analysis although no C14 dates relate directly to it (Eogan and Cleary 2017, 39-40). Two slightly curved palisade trenches (L 58m) 8m to 11m apart were recovered in excavation to the SW of main mound. Where excavated they are roughly aligned N-S but are curving to the W at either end before they are eroded away. Closely-set post-holes and packing stones are evident in the trenches. If the trenches were completely circular, and they seem to have been destroyed elsewhere by ploughing, the area enclosed would have a maximum diameter of c. 120m with its centre far to the W of the excavated portions. There is a cobbled entrance (Wth 3.2m) through the excavated part of the W line at one point, but in this area the E trench cuts through the possible Neolithic house(ME019-020019-) so it is thought that the palisaded enclosure post-dates the house, and a kerbstone of Tomb 8 is placed over the line of the E trench. Some pits, hearths and work surfaces could be associated with the enclosure. Artefacts manufactured from pebble flint, largely scrapers, were recovered as well as a plentiful supply of Western Neolithic pottery. (Eogan 1984, 219-39; Eogan and Roche 1997, 44-5) The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Meath' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1987). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 10 July 2007 Amended: 16/09/2020 See the attached plans: _1 Cemetery plan from Knowth 6, Fig. 2:1 _2 Enclosure plan from Knowth 1, Fig. 7

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