House — prehistoric in Tankardstown South

In pasture 30m S of the townland boundary with Ballygubba. Excavated Neolithic house site (LI047-012001-) located 30m to W and excavated features including ring ditches (LI047-012004-/ 05-) and cremation pit (LI047-012003-) to immediate E. House No. 2 (dims. c.15.2m x 7.4m) excavated over three seasons, between 1987 and 1989 by Christine Tarbett and Margaret Gowen. House 2, lies 20m north-west of the 1986 house (LI047-012001-) and appears also to have been destroyed by fire. It had a central large room with a narrow annex at each end. (Gowen and Tarbett 1988, 156). The house was identified in 1987 when two cuttings were opened within an area 30m north and north-west of House 1 and was described as follows. ‘In one of these cuttings, evidence for a second house (House 2) was revealed by a foundation trench which represents the north-east corner of a structure with an annexe. It contained burnt material including in situ timbers and packing boulders. Western Neolithic pottery and flint implements were amongst the finds from the trench fill. Unlike House 1, a slot trench parallel to the east trench and 2m from it would seem to form an annexe extension. The greater portion of House 2 remains in the unexcavated area to the south and south-west of this year’s cutting’ (Tarbett and Gowen 1988, 21). The second season of excavation in 1988 was described as follows; ‘The main structure of the house is defined by a foundation trench containing numerous packing stones and burnt earth. The remains are not unlike those of House 1, but this structure is apparently less severely burnt in places and the foundation trench fill appears to he more disturbed. The house appears to have maximum external dimensions of 15m 15.5m in length and c.7m 7.5m in width. It has two narrow annexes, one at either end of a large central area. The central ‘compartment’ measures roughly 9m-9.2m in length. The foundation trench (F4) is generally 0.5m wide and 0.4m-0.45m deep with steep-sided to near-vertical or overhanging sides and a flat to gently rounded, irregular basal surface, where excavated. The surfaces of the construction backfill are noticeably oxidised in places. While the north-west and south-west corners of the external wall were exposed during this season’s excavation, the western end wall was not fully exposed. Further excavation to the west will be required to ensure that no other structural elements exist to the west of the two corners located. No obvious internal post holes, such as those crossing the short axis of House 1, have yet been revealed in the central compartment, nor do any traces of a hearth survive. A shallow pit (F103), measuring 1m x 1.10m and 0.l5m-0.16m deep, may constitute the base of a truncated post-hole. However, while a concentration of dark, charcoal flecked soil and heat-cracked stones was noted at the northern side of this feature during excavation; it did not appear as a post-pipe, nor was the soil in which the fill occurred sufficiently oxidised to interpret it as a possible hearth pit. Samples of the fill have been retrieved for macro fossil, study. At the eastern end of the house the features exposed during 1987 constitute the north-eastern corner of the house and annexe, the external wall of the annexe being defined by a large corner post-hole (F78) and a short slot-trench(F2). An opposing corner post-hole (F 63) measuring max. 0.5m 0.65m in diameter, was revealed in the south east quadrant this season. The south eastern corner post (F78) appears to be 0.25m deep, while the north eastern corner post (F78) has a depth of 0.48m. No trace of timbers in situ was revealed in those portions of the foundation trench excavated this season, even though three charred timber uprights were revealed in the small slot trench defining the eastern wall of the central compartment, excavated in 1987. Two of these have recently been submitted to Gr6ningen for C 14 dating. Four areas of the foundation trench (F4) were completely, or almost completely, excavated. In portion ‘A’ a narrow slot was revealed at the base of the trench. In portion ‘B’ excavation of the fill towards the base of the trench revealed a row of packing stones set at a slight distance from the inner near-vertical foundation trench edge, leaving a narrow slot surviving in between. These appear to lie in situ. In portion ‘C’ the fill appeared somewhat disturbed. It contained many packing stones and obvious burnt material but none of it appeared to rest in situ. In portion ‘C’ the fill appeared somewhat disturbed. It contained many packing stones and obvious burnt material but none of it appeared to rest in situ. The same applies to portion ‘D’. The only other definite Neolithic feature excavated was a very short slot-gully (F 122) lying to the south of the foundation trench in the south-east quadrant. The sides are gently sloped and the base rounded. It measures l.6m x 0.36m and is 0.09-0.15m deep. The function of this feature and its relationship to the house has not yet been ascertained. The south-eastern quadrant of the cutting was excavated to a slightly lower level than the pre-cultivation surface revealed elsewhere. No further features were revealed in this area. All the Neolithic features excavated, without exception, produced sherds and fragments of Western Neolithic round bottomed shouldered bowls. One vessel has an unusually shaped, very well made, ‘D’ section rim profile. Only two roughly made flint implements were found and the remaining flint recovered consists of very small flakes and fragments which may constitute knapping waste. These were not however, found in any one concentration or specific area. The trench fill has been sampled for both macro-fossil study and charcoal identification. It is hoped to proceed with an on going programme of research on the plant and seed remains, initiated in 1986 with Mick Monk, U.C.C., especially since accelerator dates for cereal grain identified as Triticum Dicoccum, recovered from the foundation trench fill of House 1, have yielded uncalibrated Cl4 dates of 4840+80 and 4890+80 B.P. Three samples of charcoal from the foundation trench fill of House 1, kindly processed at Groningen (our thanks to Jan Lanting) have returned uncalibrated dates of 5105±45, and 5005D+25 and 4880+110 B.P (Tarbett and Gowen 1989, 24-5). Excavations in 1989 completed the excavations of the house, the results of which were summarised as; ‘The full extent of the house has now been exposed and a number of portions of its foundation trench have been fully excavated. Its maximum dimensions are c.15.2m x 7.4m and it is composed of a central area 9.2m long with an annexe at either end, each measuring approximately 2m in width. The foundation trench itself is generally c.5m wide and 0.4-0.45m deep with a steep-sided and flat-bottomed or gently rounded profile. The western end of the foundation trench has no obvious break or opening and, while it was not completely excavated, burnt fill throughout indicates that it is continuous. Two portions were excavated, one at the northwest corner and one at the south-west corner; the southwestern portion had been cut through by a linear medieval ditch. Unlike the eastern end of the house where the post-holes for two stout corner posts were revealed, there was no evidence at this end for such corner supports. The fabric of the western end wall must have been sufficiently strong to support the roof. The western internal annexe foundation slot was also partly excavated. It is represented by a long slot trench and revealed the remains of charred vertical posts in situ. Excavation of the central area concentrated on positions where obvious archaeological soils survived in cut features. The most important of these were burnt soils which were first revealed at the western edge of the outer ring ditch during the 1988 season (Excavations 1988, 24-5). As expected, these were Neolithic features, cut by the ring ditch. After excavation th