Wood and Water

Last week we were off-river. For a change we were in the middle of a forest beside a lake, so we weren't totally on dry land. The location was Drewstown Woods and we were doing a High Ropes Intructor Course. A lovely spot, and all the Beech and Pine trees got me thinking about woodland and wetland archaeology, which is a bit of a contrast to the rolling green mounds and prehistoric art that you would normally associate with the Boyne Valley.

Hanging around

Something must have been in the air because this week saw the release of some amazing pictures from the Drumclay crannog in Fermanagh which was saved from the bulldozer by archaeologists. This got me thinking of the crannogs in the Boyne Valley. Crannogs get their name from the irish for "tree" and they were usually built by driving large wooden piles into waterlogged areas and then building up the interior with brushwood, peat, stones and soil to create an artificial island. Architecturally, lake dwelling spaces are a worldwide phenomenon and are still in use in some cultures today. There are over 1500 of them listed in Ireland. Two of the best known are located in the Boyne Valley.
Moynagh Lough is located near Nobber on the edge of a former lake by the River Dee. It was excavated during the 80s and evidence was found from prehistoric periods along with early history. However, it was the early medieval period (700-900AD) that produced the most evidence for settlement. A range of high status items such as brooches were found here and they were created from different materials including gold, bronze, jet, amber, glass, horn and iron. Some of these items were found in the waste disposal area of the site so there was obviously plenty of material going spare. The presence of bowl furnaces also suggest that this crannog was used for the mass production of objects and many of these were ecclesiastical in nature. Due to the anaerobic conditions of the site there was also a great many items discovered which would normally not survive in the record, such as leather shoes and wooden utensils. Sites like this tell us a lot about everyday life back then because during that period, pottery was rare in Ireland.

Drewstown Lake

On the other side of the Boyne Valley is another famous crannog. Lagore is located near Dunshaughlin and according to the historical sources, this was the home of the Southern Brega who were a warlike bunch that liked nothing better than persecuting the Norsemen in Dublin and the Northern Brega based at Knowth. The evidence found at Lagore include iron slave collars, drinking containers made from human skulls and more iron than bronze. They also liked to use human bones in the foundations of the island, and these may have been workers that paid the ultimate sacrifice. Industrial activity from Lagore was primarily agricultural with ploughs, spindles and game pieces turning up.

Drinking Horns from Moynagh Lough Crannog

So, in a time when there were no towns in Ireland, we have people organising the building of wooden stilted settlements near water. The evidence suggests that they were located here for particular reasons. They may have been to do with manufacturing, or status, or defence. The ongoing work in Fermanagh will hopefully build on what we have learned in the Boyne Valley.
In the meantime, I have some branches to chop.
Credits
Crannogs
Scott, B G 1978 `Iron 'slave-collars' from Lagore Crannog, Co Meath' Proc Roy Ir Acad C 78, 1978 213-30,
Bradley J. Excavations at Moynagh Lough County Meath, The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland Vol. 121, (1991), pp. 5-26