Slievemore and Deserted Village Excavations 2010-2011
Excavations during 2010 and 2011 in Slievemore concentrated on a group of Bronze Age Roundhouse, associated prehistoric field walls and a number of hut sites.
2011 Summary: Hut sites and Field Walls on Slievemore
TBA
2010 Summary: Round house 2 and Field Walls Slievemore
Hut Circle Site 1. This site is located just over 100m to the south west of the Roundhouse 1 and is visible as a pair of large artificial terraces. On the upper terrace two circular foundations were visible as low rings of heather-covered stones set 16m apart, and there are suggestions that a further 3 or more circular foundations are present on the terrace but which do not protrude through the bog in such an obvious manner. A pre-bog field wall runs down the mountain and connects to the north west corner of the upper terrace, and the downslope end of the lower terrace is defined by another pre-bog wall that runs for several hundred meters across the mountainside. During the later part of the summer of 2010 the northern foundation was selected for excavation.
Removal of the overlying peat revealed a surprisingly large foundation demonstrating that what was visible prior to the excavation was only the internal edge of a sloping wall. The buildings long axis was aligned west north west to east south east and had a maximum length of 4.6m. The internal area was small, with a maximum length of 2.6m from west north west to east south east. The wall consists of roughly coursed stone with larger boulders forming a foundation layer. Only the internal wall face is clearly defined, which is vertical and stands to a maximum height of around 0.8m. Beyond this the wall slopes downwards and the outer wall face is concealed by collapsed material, giving a total width of around 1m. It is not clear what form the wall originally took, the outwardly sloping profile may be an original feature and the width recorded may be close to the original size. Alternatively the wall may have originally been narrower with a standard upright profile, and the top may have then collapsed outwards to give the recorded sloping profile.
The interior was devoid of postholes or any features indicative of a timber superstructure but a small hearth and a small pit were identified near the south west and north east perimeter respectively. No direct evidence of a roof was forthcoming and so the question of the original form of the walls is particularly important. If the wall was originally wide and low, approximating its recorded form, then this may have been able to bare the weight of a roof. Conversely it is unlikely that a narrower, taller wall could have been load bearing, and given the lack of postholes it would have to be suggested that the building was never covered by a roof. Further excavation in 2011 will take place in order to establish the exact form of the walls.
2009 Summary: Bronze Age Roundhoue at Slievemore, Achill, Co. Mayo
Archaeological excavation was undertaken at the site of Roundhouse 2, Slievemore, Achill Island, Co. Mayo as part of the 2009 fieldwork programme of the Achill Archaeological Field School. Four trenches were excavated across the structure and indicated that is was a drystone construction broadly comparable to a similar structure (Roundhouse 1) located 50m to the west. There was evidence for a single entrance in the east of the structure and an attached field boundary to the west; there were indications of a least two phases of activity contemporary with the structure.
The structure is likely to date to the Early Bronze Age (by analogy with the adjacent site of Roundhouse 1), however this needs to be confirmed by scientific dating. Though both structures appear to be set within a contemporary field system, there are still questions as to whether these are indeed domestic structures. However, the discovery of degraded pottery during the 2009 excavations suggest that these may very well be domesic structures. The fact that there are at least another 8-10 sites on the mountain argues strongly for domestic usage. The final results of the excavations at Roundhouse 2 in 2010 are expected to resolve this question, while the analysis of environmental samples by Exteter University is likely to make a significant contribution to its resolution.
Copyright 2012 Achill Archaeological Field School.