 |
 |
|
|
|
| Analysis of plant remains from Neolithic House in Tankardstown South, Co. Limerick |
|
Michael Monk
(Posted 15.08.00) |
|
During topsoil stripping for the laying of the Goatisland-Mallow gas pipeline in 1986, two sites of Neolithic date were discovered, one roughly two miles northwest of Kilmallock, Co. Limerick, in the townland of Tankardstown South, and the other in the townland of Pepperhill, about two and a half miles west of Buttevant, Co. Cork.
Archaeological Background The Tankardstown site was located at the top of a very gentle southwest-facing slope towards the Loobagh River. The topsoil stripping revealed an L-shaped trench filled with boulders and burnt soil that proved to be the foundation for a Neolithic house. The complete ground plan of the house was subsequently excavated over a five-week period. Apart from the rectangular foundation trench of a burnt plank-built house 7.4 m long by 6.4 m wide, the excavation revealed two main internal post holes, which crossed the centre of the house along its shorter (northwest-southeast) axis. The foundation trench contained packing boulders and charred wood remains. Samples were taken from the two main post holes and the foundation trench for the analysis of charred non-charcoal plant remains. Archaeobotanical study Most of the charred remains from both post holes were cereal grains, primarily emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccum). Also present, though in lesser amounts, were cereal flower parts, spikelet parts and glume bases, again primarily of emmer wheat. A few fragments of hazel nuts (Corylus avellana) and some indeterminate Chenopodiaceae and Polygonaceae seeds were also found. Of particular note was the finding of two charred pips and endocarp fragments of crab apple (Malus sylvestris) in one of the post holes. Large quantities of the charred fragments of dried crab apples and some loose pips were recovered from the fill of the foundation trench, which also contained cereal grains, primarily emmer wheat. Emmer wheat is the most common cereal found at Neolithic sites in the British Isles, although einkorn and possibly bread/club wheat are also found, and barley has been recovered from several Neolithic contexts. Neolithic sites across northwest Europe have also produced the remains of gathered wild fruit, such as hazel nuts, blackberries, sloes and apples. The Tankardstown material provides evidence of apple drying and storage prior to consumption, probably in the winter. The exploitation of apples, including their cultivation, became prominent in the early historic period. The material recovered from the Neolithic house in Tankardstown shows that the exploitation of wild apples goes back much further in time. |