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An Anthropomorphic Pot From Mitchelstown, Co. Cork A previously unknown type of ceramic vessel was recovered from a site on the route of the N8 Mitchelstown Relief Road, Co. Cork, Ireland. The landscape of the Mitchelstown area is dominated by the Galtee Mountains to the north, the Ballyhoura Mountains to the west and the Kilworth Mountains to the south. The land in the vicinity of the site is for the most part under pasture and is located at an altitude of 90 m OD. The site was located c.1.5km to the west of the town within the historic Mitchelstown Demesne, on the northern bank of the Gradoge River which drains into the Funshion River 700m to the northwest of the site. The course of the Gradoge River in the vicinity of the site has been altered in the recent and historic past. The construction of Mitchelstown Demesne, a parkland of some 1240 acres was undertaken in the eighteenth century. The works included the construction of two artificial lakes to the east of the site. The course of the river in the vicinity of the site has been straightened in the recent past. An area 50m north-south by 20m east-west was excavated on the northern bank of the river. The features identified comprised a burnt stone spread, three pits, a stakehole and a portion of a former channel of the river. One of the pits and the stakehole were located on the edge of the area of the excavation and road corridor, c. 13 m to the northwest of the other features. This pit measured 0.6m by 0.5m by 0.3m in depth. Two flat stones had been placed in the base of the pit and three pottery vessels had been placed on the stones. Three shallow fills were recorded within the pit. A radiocarbon date of 1916-1696 cal BC (UB-6743) was returned from charcoal recovered from the upper fill of the pit. The stakehole was located 1.1m northwest of the pit; it measured 0.2m in diameter by 0.19m in depth. 
The pottery was examined by Eoin Grogan and Helen Roche and was identified as “an exceptional assemblage, both for the unusual and sequential deposition of the pottery without clear burial evidence and for the nature of the vessels: vessel 1 of the cordoned urn tradition is quite small and unusually fine-walled, while vessels 2 and 3 have no parallels in Ireland.” Grogan and Roche suggested that two distinct phases of deposition took place in the pit. These may have happened within a short space of time as no evidence for a re-cut of the pit was recorded during the excavation. Vessel 1, the cordoned urn, was deposited initially in the western portion of the pit in an upright position on a flat stone which lay at the base of the feature. The vessel is typical of those containing cordoned urn burials but no cremated bone was recovered from the pit. At this stage, it is possible that the pit was the same size as the vessel. Some time later the pit may have been re-cut and enlarged to the east. Two vessels were placed upright in the pit. Vessel 2 is a handled and footed face mask cup and was deposited centrally in the pit. The diameter of the rim measured 0.12m and the internal depth 0.07m. It is decorated by a handle or nose, eyes, lugs or ears and two protruding feet. Vessel 3 is a tub-shaped pot and was deposited upright and intact on the eastern side of the pit beside Vessel 2. The diameter of the rim measured 0.13m and the internal depth 0.07m. Vessels 2 and 3 are of similar fabric. The placement of Vessels 2 and 3 together would suggest that they functioned as a pair. There are no parallels for the two small pots, Vessels 2 and 3, in Ireland. The deposition of three Early Bronze Age pottery vessels in a small pit is a rare and highly significant find. The pots were placed upon two flat stones that lay within the base of the cut on a bed of sandy material. The nature of this stone surface, placement of the pottery vessels, and backfilling with charcoal rich material, would indicate that this pit represents a symbolic and ritual deposit. The site was excavated by Bruce Sutton for Eachtra Archaeological Projects under licence 04E1071 as part of a programme of testing and excavation undertaken on the route of the N8 Mitchelstown Relief Road on behalf of Cork County Council, National Roads Design Office. This project was funded by the Irish Government under the National Development Plan, 2000-2006. Jacinta Kiely & Bruce Sutton, Eachtra Archaeological Projects Photographs by John Sunderland Content Management Powered by CuteNews
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