Enclosed Late Bronze Age Habitation Site and Boundary Wall at Lough Gur, Co. Limerick

Abstract

Abstract:This report was compiled on the basis of a two-season excavation on an enclosed habitation site and adjacent wall on Knockadoon Hill. The enclosure is morphologically similar to sites excavated in the 1940s and 1950s and interpreted as Neolithic and Beaker period habitation sites. The results of this excavation show that the enclosure is Late Bronze Age in date, and this has led to a review of the dating evidence for the previously excavated sites. This excavation uncovered the remains of two structures within the enclosure. The wall to the west of the enclosure was partly excavated, and the period of its construction is also Late Bronze Age. The environmental evidence suggests that cattle and pig husbandry formed the basis of the economy. Some evidence of cereal production was also recovered from the excavation.