An excavation team on Drumanagh headland in north Co. Dublin has made a most remarkable discovery: the first complete Roman pot found in Ireland.
An intact Roman pot – believed to be the “first ever” found in Ireland – has been recovered during excavations on Drumanagh headland, near Loughshinny in north Co. Dublin.
Fingal County Council Heritage Officer and Archaeologist Christine Baker told RTÉ: “We’re breathless with the sheer excitement of it all”.
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The discovery of the complete vessel was recently made during the current season of the Digging Drumanagh project – an ongoing programme of research-led excavations overseen by Fingal County Council. The pot is now being sent to the National Museum of Ireland for conservation and further analysis.
Iron Age promontory fort
Drumanagh is the site of a large promontory fort defined by a series of earthworks – three closely-spaced earthen banks and ditches. Promontory forts are typically associated with the Iron Age (c.500 BC–AD 400).
Fingal County Council took ownership of a 46-acre site on Drumanagh headland in 2016. Excavations began in 2018 and have continued over five seasons to date, including the current season running from 14–28 May. This year, the team is investigating the high point in the landscape and building on the results of previous seasons. The dig is led by Christine Baker, and the team includes professional archaeologists and volunteers from the local community and beyond.
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The archaeological investigations have revealed extensive evidence of craft and domestic activity, including metal, glass and ceramic objects, along with food items that originated in Roman Spain, Gaul and Britain. Other finds reflect local practices. The latest finds include glass beads, gaming pieces, bone combs, loom weights, a spindle whorl, a needle, a die, a punch tool and evidence of posts, cooking pits and shell pits.
Drumanagh and the Roman Empire
At its height, the Roman Empire controlled much of Europe, along with parts of Western Asia and North Africa. Its vast network of trade routes enabled the spread of Roman cuisine and food culture, with spices, herbs, nuts and exotic fruits such as grapes, dates and figs travelling great distances – often transported and stored in amphorae and other specialized pots and containers.
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Drumanagh has produced a remarkable range of food items, including remnants of olive oil and substantial quantities of burnt spelt wheat – a grain that was common in Roman Britain but rare in Iron Age Ireland. During an earlier season of excavation, a 2,000-year-old charred fig was recovered and identified as the oldest exotic fruit ever found in Ireland.
>>> RELATED: Exotic fig discovery at Drumanagh sheds light on Iron Age diet and trade routes
Although Ireland was never part of the Roman Empire, Drumanagh’s position on a headland overlooking the Irish Sea gave it a strategic importance that is only now being fully understood. The material evidence unearthed in and around the promontory fort indicates that it was an important trading post with the Roman Empire during the Iron Age. It sustained contact with Roman Britain, especially the Chester–Wirral area, during the first two centuries of Roman rule.
With each new excavation season, Drumanagh continues to reshape our understanding of Ireland’s links to the Roman world.
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