FourKnocks II

The site known as Fourknocks II is located on private land about 100m to the east of Fourknocks Passage Tomb on an east west ridge between the River Nanny and the River Delvin in County Meath. The visible remains of this site are an overgrown mound and on its north facing site what appears to be the entrance to a passage tomb.

Fourknocks 2 was excavated by P. J. Hartnett in 1952 and his excavation revealed a complex site, Neolithic in origin. The excavation revealed two main separate features, a bell shaped cairn and a megalithic passage with a trench placed transversely to it. Early Bronze Age burials were also found in the mound.

The cairn, 8m in diameter, and built of layers of stone and clay was surrounded by a ditch and is thought to have been the earliest feature on the site. It was im high in the middle and under the cairn a pit containing charcoal and some cremated bone was found. The one metre deep trench which is 10m long by 1.6m wide, situated to the north east of the cairn was the next feature to be added to the site. The excavation uncovered charcoal deposits and evidence for intense burning. Some cremated bone and fragments of worked antler were found associated with pits in the base of the trench. Archaeologists have interpreted the trench as a cremation site, possibly for the neighboring Passage Tomb. Possibly when the cremation pit was no longer used the megalithic passage was constructed together with an outer ditch surrounding the whole site. The passage was then blocked the material including deposits of human bone and a mound built over the site giving it the outer profile of a Passage Tomb similar to the neighboring Fourknocks Passage tomb. This contained fragments of Neolithic Carrowkeel ware. Gabriel Cooney has described Fourknocks II as a pastiche megalithic tomb. The sequence of activity uncovered at the site and its relationship with the neighboring Fourknocks Passage tomb, and evidence for considerable Neolithic activity along the ridge gives some insight into the ritual activity and religion of a Neolithic community.

Bibliography

• Hartnett, P. J. 1956/57. Excavation of a Passage Grave at Fourknocks, Co. Meath. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section C: Archaeology, Celtic Studies,History, Linguistics, Literature, Vol. 58, pp. 197-277.
• Hartnett, P. J. and O'Sullivan, W. 1971. The Excavation of Two Tumuli at Fourknocks (Sites II and III), Co. Meath. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section C: Archaeology, Celtic Studies,History, Linguistics, Literature,pp. 35-89
• King, H.A. Cross, S. Lanting, J. Brindley, A. Buckley, L.Synott, D. Norton, J. Brindley, J. 1999. Excavation on the Fourknocks Ridge, Co. Meath. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section C: Archaeology, Celtic Studies,History, Linguistics, Literature, Vol. 99C, No. 5, pp. 157-198
• Cooney, G. 1997. A Tale of Two Mounds: Monumental Landscape Design at Fourknocks, Co Meath Archaeology Ireland, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 17-19