Data copyright © Dr Emily Murray unless otherwise stated
This work is licensed under the ADS Terms of Use and Access.
Dr
Emily
Murray
School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology
Queen's University Belfast
University Road
Belfast
BT7 1NN
Northern Ireland
Tel: 02890 972620
This database presents the raw data of the analysis of the animal bone assemblage from recent excavations of the medieval settlement at Knowth, Co. Meath. The results and analysis of the assemblage are presented in full in the monograph Knowth and the zooarchaeology of Early Christian Ireland by Finbar McCormick and Emily Murray published by the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin (2007). Summary tables of the metrical and ageing data are included in the published volume with the full database made available here.
The great Neolithic passage tomb mound of Knowth in the Boyne valley was a focus of intensive settlement during the Early Christian period. Historical evidence indicates that Knowth was a royal site from at least the eight century AD although it may have been a centre of royal power earlier than this. During the seventh century a large double ditch was dug into the mound, creating a circular enclosure not unlike the bivallate ringforts of the period. There was no evidence for contemporary structures or occupation levels within the enclosure and the only dating and habitation evidence was recovered from the fills of the ditches, mainly the outer ditch, indicating that occupation continued into the eight century ('Stage 8', Plan 1). The ditches were subsequently filled-in and an open, unenclosed settlement characterised by a large number of houses, souterrains and metalworking areas, developed during the tenth and eleventh centuries ('Stage 9', Plan 2). The third phase of occupation was represented by the use of the mound as a motte in the twelfth century and with later medieval occupation which came to an end sometime in the sixteenth century ('Stage 10'). The Stage 10 structures were constructed on top of the levelled surface of the mound much of which has been lost due to nineteenth century quarrying at the site. Both Stages 8 and 9 produced large quantities of animal bones with a smaller assemblage of bones from Stage 10 contexts.