Lagavooren 7
Lagavooren 7 is a late Neolithic Timber Circle ( English for post circles ), which was discovered when probing the Drogheda bypass of the M1 southwest of the village in County Meath in Ireland and excavated in 2001 by Emmett Stafford. It is similar to Knowth Timber Circle, about 7.5 km away . The multi-phase Lagavooren location was one of the most outstanding in the region. In addition to the wooden circle, there was evidence of early Neolithic (pits with pottery), Bronze Age and Iron Age activities (stoves with iron slag from 520-380 BC, at the beginning of iron smelting in Ireland).
Lagavooren 7 is located within a late Neolithic and Bronze Age complex between Rathmullan and Lagavooren ( Irish Log an Mhúirín ). A late Neolithic pit was excavated 110 m northwest at Rathmullan 7 c. It contained large quantities of late Neolithic grooved goods including an almost intact vessel. The pottery was interpreted as a votive warehouse and has parallels in a second large warehouse of Grooved Ware in a pit near Rathmullan 8. Also to be highlighted are large late Bronze Age finds (1040–810 BC) in the southeast. The place was only partially excavated and the remains were left in situ under the motorway.
The Timber circle
The emergence of the Timber circles in Ireland (around 2900 BC) is associated with the appearance of Grooved Ware. The facilities are interpreted as places with a ritual function and may have been the focus of elaborate ceremonies. The district of Lagavooren had an inner diameter of 5.7 and an outer diameter of 7.0 m. It is defined by 23 posts set up at regular intervals (about 86 cm). There were four large post holes in the interior and an entrance to the southeast. The deposits associated with this structure yielded a large amount of lithic and ceramic relics, which consisted of numerous flint flakes, blades and scrapers and included a large amount of grooved ware.
A series of 14C dates (burned animal bones) from the post holes (2900–2670 BC, 2840–2470 BC and 2580–2460 BC) confirms - in connection with the Grooved Ware - the late Neolithic . The distribution of the pottery was instructive. Shards of four vessels were recovered from the fillings of more than one post hole. At least one sherd from each of these vessels was also recovered from the post holes in the square post in the center, while one sherbet from two of the vessels came from the entrance. The shards from Vessel 10 were found in eight different post holes. This is a clear indication of a deliberate and ritual deposit during construction.
See also
literature
- L. Clarke, D. Murphy: Excavation of a Bronze Age enclosure (Site 17) at Lagavooren townland, Co. Meath. Ríocht na Midhe XIII, 2002, pp. 18-22.
Web links
Coordinates: 53 ° 41 ′ 50.3 " N , 6 ° 22 ′ 36.1" W.