- Chapter Thirty-Three -
within the Iron Age and their resemblance to the circular constructions at Navan has
been noted. There were three main constructional phases. The first was characterized
by a single palisade trench, the second, which overlay the former, by three closely
spaced concentric trenches, followed finally by a pair of similar trenches. A ring of
large, free-standing posts was built within the third phase enclosure and inside
this again there was a small circular hut. After the removal of all these timber
constructions the hilltop at Dun Ailinne, in its final phase of use, was the scene of
successive periods of outdoor feasting.
We can do little more than speculate as to the precise nature of the various phases
of activity at Dun Ailinne. The excavator suggested that the ringed enclosures were the
settings for ceremonial acts and that in the second and third stages some form of
spectators' platforms may have existed. Whatever the details, however, the exceptional
nature of the activities which took place on the hilltop is clear and few would question
that here, as at Navan, we have archaeological indications of ritual happenings.
At Navan and Dun Ailinne archaeology and protohistory begin to merge.
Although the details are unclear we can nonetheless begin to visualize those strutting
Celtic rulers of the heroic tales engaged in their complex hilltop ceremonies. For
theirs was a sacral kingship and correct ritual observance of the seasonal feasts was
vital to the well-being of the tribe. The Navan temple, precisely dated to 95/94 Be,
gives us a rare indication of the date at which such events were taking place. Dun
Ailinne, though less closely dated, undoubtedly overlaps with Navan in time.
These major sites are not the only one3 dating to this period. Several of the
extensive travelling earthworks which run discontinuously for many kilometres
across the country have been shown in recent years to belong to the same chrono-
logical horizon as that of the royal sites. The so-called Black Pig's Dyke in Co.
Monaghan (Walsh 1987) and the Dun of Drumsna in Roscommon (Condit and
Buckley 1989), for example, have yielded radiocarbon dates placing their construction
late in the last pre-Christian millennium. More dramatic, however, is the dendro-
chronological evidence from an earthwork known as the Dorsey in south Armagh
(Figure 33.9) which yielded oak timbers felled in almost precisely the same year as
was the central post at Navan (Baillie 1988). The coincidence seems too great not to
infer some link between the construction of the temple at Navan and the raising of the
great earthen rampart at the Dorsey. It may thus be that during the second century
Be, particularly its second half, the erection of major communal works reflects a
phase of tribal expansion and consolidation on a grand scale. Indeed, it may well be
that the enormous labour involved in the building of the Corlea roadway in 148
Be should also be considered in the same context. These are major achievements
testifying to significant social organization and strong centralized leadership. It is not
impossible that the development and spread of La Tene cultural influences across the
land were related to such events.
FORTSNavan, Dun Ailinne and Tara are obviously exceptional sites which can scarcely be
regarded as shedding much light on the typical settlements of iron age Ireland.