Crannog in Kiltoom

This crannóg was listed as Kiltoom 8 and described by O'Sullivan (2004, 78-80) as following; 'Located on a level, if rocky and irregular foreshore, 8m to W towards modern lake-edge (summer level), 12m to E to modern winter level, 27-30m to former, pre-drainage lake shore. The lake shore slopes gently down from E to W. There are also several, other manmade or natural, features along this shore. On the N side, a shallow linear depression, oriented NE/SW, runs for 30-40m to the NNW of the site to the water’s edge. This may be a geological feature or a former stream course. On the S side, a shallow curvilinear ditch, 20cm in depth, 2-3m in width, 15m in length, partly encloses the cairn to its S and SE. This is possibly a man-made ditch dug into the lake-bed to provide raw material (e.g. stone and lake-marl) for its construction, to define the crannog or to provide a ‘boat dock’. The cairn is therefore itself located on a level platform, with a marshy ‘berm’ 5m (N-S) by 11(E-W) to the S. The nearest archaeological site (WM007-116----) is a small, low-cairn crannóg, 60m to the S. Present remains consist of a large, low-cairn crannóg (dims. 8.3m N-S x 10m E-W; H 1.4m) on a level foreshore. It is irregular or sub-rectangular in shape, oriented E-W. In N-S profile, the cairn is almost straight-sided along both N and S sides. In its E-W profile, the cairn slopes gradually up from the W side, is relatively level across its upper surface and is steep-sided on E side. There are at least two holes or cavities in the upper cairn surface. Hole A in the NE sector measures 1.5m N-S, 1.1m E-W, 0.7m in depth. Hole B in the W sector measures 2.1m NW-SE and 0.4m in depth. These may be duck-hides. The crannóg is built of very large to massive limestone boulders, with particularly large stones situated around the edges. This has the appearance of a disturbed kerb, particularly on the W side. A boulder at the SE corner measures 0.73m in length, 0.53m in width, by 0.37m in thickness. The boulders on the cairn surface vary in appearance, ranging from angular rectangular blocks to slightly rounded boulders. Some of the boulders have pronounced regular grooving across some surfaces, clearly due to original wave erosion when they were situated elsewhere. This suggests that rocks were gathered from the neighbouring shoreline for constructing the crannóg. Larger boulders were placed on the lake-bed as foundation and as a kerb. On top of this were laid smaller, rounded pebbles (average size, 20-30cm length), with some large boulders scattered throughout. Throughout the upper cairn surface, in the interstices between the boulders and pebbles, were placed even smaller fist-sized stones (i.e. 10cm in length). These smaller stones were clearly water-rolled, possibly gathered from the shallows by the water’s edge. There is a stone-built causeway, 7m in length, 20-3 0cm in width, 10cm in height, running out from the NNE corner of the cairn. It is oriented NE/SW and runs up the foreshore to the modern winter water’s edge. The causeway is a straight alignment of medium-sized limestone and sandstone flagstones laid horizontally on the lake-bed. The causeway runs right up to the edge of the cairn, where several large boulders provide a ‘threshold’ onto the site'. (O'Sullivan et. al. 2007, 127-8) Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien based on details provided by Aidan O'Sullivan. Date of upload: 6 March 2017