Emania 18

Interim report of a test excavation undertaken to investigate the remains of a large circular structure previously identified by survey, to the immediate north of Site A, the less prominent of the two monuments on the hilltop at Navan. Two concentric ring-slots were identified, both containing burnt material, some of which represented the charred remains of contiguous posts which had burned in situ. 1,398 fragments of bone, mostly burnt, were also found, some of which were identified as pig, cattle and sheep/goat (see also the report by Eileen M Murphy, pages 17--19). Radiocarbon dating of charcoal samples gave date ranges between 376 cal BC and 7 cal BC; these combined with stratigraphic relationships would seem to indicate a date between 200 BC and the early centuries AD. The relationship of the structure to the two monuments previously investigated is discussed.

Report on a trial excavation undertaken in 1998 of the main ditch defining the enclosure at Navan Fort. About ten pieces of worked wood, mainly long stake-like segments, were recovered from the ditch fill, as well as quantities of unworked wood and some animal bone. At the lowest level of the ditch were two large, worked, burnt oak timbers and fragments of a wooden bowl. The author discusses the problems associated with the dating evidence, and suggests that the Iron Age date indicated by the majority of the evidence is correct. The significance of the oak timbers and the ditch morphology are also discussed. The author concludes by considering the relationship of this apparently Iron Age hengiform structure to those of the Neolithic. See also the separate report on the animal bones by Finbar McCormick, pages 37--8.

The author suggests that the placing of the ditch inside the bank in a number of Irish Iron Age `ritual' enclosures is to be interpreted as an attempt to protect the real world outside the enclosure from the Otherworld inside it, and that these enclosures are, in effect, hillforts in reverse.

Comparative analysis of the ancient Greek Iliad and the ancient Irish Ulaid or `Men of Ulster' epic cycle, including a discussion of the site of Emain Macha, or Navan Fort.

Paper on the archaeological discoveries from Kiltullagh Hill, the summit of which has produced evidence of human remains apparently from the period of transition from the Late Iron Age to Early Christian burial. The authors describe the three phases of initially accidental discovery and later excavation between 1992 and 1998, and discuss the significance of the sequence. Includes specialist reports on

Note on a cup-and-ring decorated stone found during excavations at Haughey's Fort in 1990. The author discusses the context of the find, the possibility that it was a ritual deposition, and the similarity between the design on the stone and the morphology of the hillfort.