IF you’ve passed the Kerries area over the past couple of weeks you might have wondered about the purpose of activity in a field at Knockanacuig.

Well, over the course of the past fortnight, a team of professional archaeologists under the direction of Dr Michael Connolly of Kerry County Council and a group of enthusiastic volunteers have been busy exploring the hillfort site.

This is the start of ‘Dig Tralee’, a major archaeological project that will see a number of excavations at the site over the coming summers.

Continued below…

Knockanacuig hillfort was once an enclosure of significant size and height that commanded a view of the surrounding area for miles around.

The aim of the project is to explore this ancient monument and uncover what role it might have played in the origins of Tralee.

Dig Tralee is taking a ‘hands-on’ approach, where volunteers, working in partnership with the Archaeology Section in Kerry County Council and Kerry County Museum, can literally dig into their area’s past and find a connection to those who lived in the same place thousands of years ago.

This year 20 volunteers were involved in the dig, people from all ages and from all walks of life whose energy, enthusiasm, willingness to learn have played a major part in getting the project off to an excellent start.

Prior to the start of the excavation, a study of early maps and aerial photography from the 1960s indicated that the central feature within the enclosure was a mound, 32-35 metres wide, surrounded by a broad ditch.

Unfortunately, this mound is now gone, and the ditch infilled but what lies beneath its footprint and immediate surrounds was the focus of the first phase of the project.

Accordingly, a 26-metre long, 2-metre wide, trench was dug from the centre of where the mound stood and extending beyond its outer edge.

Several intriguing archaeological features were uncovered including evidence of multiple wooden structures; an impressively deep water-filled ditch which would have surrounded the barrow; and part of a large rectangular structure that is sited outside the ditch.

Taken together, it suggests that Knockanacuig was once a location of significant human activity over a long period of time.

A lot of charcoal was found throughout the trench, samples of which will hopefully allow the team to date its rise and fall.

The water-logged base of the ditch yielded significant pieces of preserved wood which will enable experts to discover what environmental conditions were like when it was being dug.

Some small samples of human and animal bone were also uncovered which should also provide the team with important information.

The tired but happy team were very satisfied with their efforts and now look forward to what data comes back from the labs over the next few months.

This information will help in our understanding of the site and how best to approach the next phase of the dig.