Hut Circle Site Slievemore

Hut Circle Site

The prehistoric landscape preserved under the blanket bog on Slievemore represents a large multi period archaeological complex, and consists of a huge system of pre-bog fieldwalls, a number of Megalithic Tombs, several large roundhouses and numerous smaller sites that are difficult to assess without excavation. Following the completion of the excavations at two of the large roundhouses, Achill Field School turned its attention to one of these smaller sites, which was given the name 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.

Whilst no obvious entrance to the building was identified a pavement consisting of large flat stone slabs led from the western corner of the excavation right up to the western wall. At this point on the internal wall face there is a distinct change in the manner of the construction and it is thought this may represent an entrance to the building which was blocked during an extensive period of secondary use.
South of the building there were several features including a field wall, several areas of laid stone and a deposit of peat ash, which indicate a complex sequence of building took place in this area over a prolonged period. Further excavation will be needed to determine the true nature and scale of this activity, but it is clear that some of it is associated with the secondary occupation of the site.

An interesting possibility considered before the excavation began was that originally the building had a corbelled stone roof. Unfortunately the quantity of collapsed stone in the interior of the building was not large enough to have roofed the building, however the stone built features to the south of the building could account for the missing stone if the stone from the buildings collapsed roof was reused there. It is therefore vital that we properly establish the chronological relationship between the building and these features, something we will attempt in 2011.

As mentioned above the building was subject to a long period of secondary use, and it seems likely at this point there was no roof in place. The secondary use was represented by a thick charcoal rich build up of soil within the building and around the southern exterior covering over the lower levels of wall collapse. A large assemblage of quartz fragments were recovered from this material and preliminary analysis indicates that this material has been deliberately smashed and has not been deposited by a natural process. It seems most likely that during this time the surviving foundation was used as a place in which fires were set and quartz was worked into tools or simply broken down into smaller pieces for some reason. It is quite possible that the collapsed walls of the building were used as a kind of circular bench providing seating around the fire.

The excavations at this site in 2010 revealed a genuinely fascinating site, every bit as interesting as the large roundhouses located up slope. It really isn’t clear at present what the building looked like in its original form or what it was used for. Whilst the secondary use of the site as an outdoor fire seems clear, the purpose behind the fires and the quartz working remain elusive. Environmental and phosphate samples from the site are currently being processed and these should provide some more information. Excavation is planned to continue at the site in 2011, and it is intended to extend as far as the southern circular foundation, allowing us to examine that building and all of the intervening area. It seems likely that the entire terrace is crammed full of exciting and complicated archaeology and another fascinating part of the prehistoric landscape of Slievemore will soon be revealed. Environmental and phosphate samples from the site are currently being processed and these should provide some more information, including crucial dating evidence.