Ringfort Loughbown 1
The slightly oval ring fort Loughbown 1 is a rath with a basement . It is located near Liscapple, southwest of Ballinasloe in County Galway in Ireland and was partially excavated in 2009 as part of the investigation of the N6 motorway route.
description
During the excavation by Nicholas Bower, the remains of a bivallate (double walled) ring fort were uncovered on the slope of a hill. The Rath was once surrounded by a 1.5 m wide, 0.8 m deep outer trench with a diameter of about 63 m and an inner trench about three meters wide and 1.1 m deep with a diameter of about 42 m. The excavated trenches were heaped up to form a wall, the remains of which were found between the trenches. A body burial was found in a closure of the inner trench at the entrance to the southeast. Remnants of a modern building at the western end of the site overlaid the outer moat.
Basement
In the case of basements , a distinction is made between “earth-cut”, “rock-cut”, “mixed”, “stone built” and “wooden” (e.g. Coolcran, County Fermanagh ). An approximately straight basement with walls made of drywall (stonebuilt) of limestone was approximately centrally within the ring cont. It was covered with large limestone slabs. The excavated area is 7.16 m long, 1.56 m wide and 1.25 m deep, with a vent on the east side. The geophysical survey showed that it continued two meters outside the excavation area to the north. Around 40% of the ring fort area is outside the excavation corridor.
use
Other permanent fixtures were three suspected kilns , where large amounts of grains of various types of grain were found. The iron processing took place east between the trenches, with oak being identified as the most important fuel. Three small forge fires were found and a 14C date gave the range from 1047 to 1257 AD.
Finds
The Loughbown 1 finds include wooden and bone combs, a millstone, stone bowl, iron tools, and other copper alloy items including a pen, silver coin, knife, and buckle. The post-medieval context contained large amounts of pottery from the 18th to 20th centuries.
Loughbown 2
Protected as a Recorded Monument under the National Monument (Amendment) Act, 1994, it is a more disturbed ring fort, of which only a ring of ramparts and moats could be proven.
literature
- Mark Clinton: The Souterrains of Ireland. 2001, ISBN 1-869857-49-6 .
Web links
- Excavation report engl. with pictures and sketches (PDF; 5.8 MB)
- Loughbown 1 report engl.
- Loughbown 2 report engl.
Coordinates: 53 ° 18 ′ 38.6 ″ N , 8 ° 16 ′ 6 ″ W.