2010 Excavation

Square Enclosure, Caherconnell townland, Co. Clare

Funded by the Royal Irish Academy

Director: Michelle Comber

This excavation is targeting a stone enclosure in the townland of Caherconnell, the Burren, Co. Clare. It is a sub-square drystone enclosure, the walls of which are of limestone, 2.7m wide originally. A number of such sites are recorded across the Burren, however nothing is known of their chronology or function. This particular sub-square enclosure forms part of an archaeologically rich landscape in and around the townland of Caherconnell.

Four hand-dug cuttings were excavated in 2010. Features uncovered in the interior included a circular house, part of another sub-circular structure, and a number of walls sub-dividing the space between the structures. Associated deposits were rich in faunal remains and a quantity of artefacts was also recovered, including an iron pin, knife, vessel fragments, fragment of lead, copper-alloy fitting, glass bead, fragment of a rotary quernstone, unfinished spindle-whorl, whetstones, lignite bracelet fragment, bone-pin shaft, fragments of a bone comb, chert tools and waste, and several small pieces of iron-smithing slag.

2011 Excavation

The second season of research excavation targeted new areas in the interior of the sub-square drystone. Three hand-dug cuttings were excavated in 2011. Features uncovered in the interior included a sub-circular structure/house, part of a possible structure, a number of walls sub-dividing the space between the structures, and the enclosure entrance. The entrance comprised an entrance passage flanked by the drystone walls of the enclosure, with its surface roughly paved. A fallen lintel was discovered immediately outside the entrance. Associated deposits were rich in faunal remains and a quantity of artefacts was also recovered, including bronze, bone and iron dress pins, iron knives, a socketed and pronged tool, nails and rivets, a buckle, stone and glass beads, fragment of a rotary quernstone, a stone spindle-whorl, whetstones, lignite bracelet fragment, a few pot sherds, flint and chert tools and waste, a stone axe and fragment of a second, and several pieces of metalworking slag.

Initial analysis, based on artefacts and C14 dates from 2010, indicates that the enclosure was used during the early medieval period (7^th to 9^th century AD), though the material culture contains a prehistoric element. Reasons for its non-circular shape, relatively large size and south-facing entrance are being explored. Did it have a different function, status or even cultural background to the more common circular enclosures?

Initial analysis, based on artefacts and C14 dates, indicates that the enclosure was used during the early medieval period.

Excavation site Circled