Apariţie editorială: Meitheal. The archaeology of lives, labours and belifes at Raystown, Co. Meath, by Matthew Seaver

Meitheal. The archaeology of lives, labours and belifes at Raystown, Co. Meath, by Matthew Seaver

Kilkenny archaeologist Matthew Seaver has just published a fantastic new book on his excavations at Raystown, Co. Meath. Archaeological excavations revealed that Raystown began as a cemetery in the fifth century AD and evolved over the next 200 years into a large farming settlement surrounding the cemetery. In the eighth century the site developed further into a milling centre and continued in use for another 400 years. Most of the known early medieval mill sites in Ireland featured a single mill or sometimes two. At Raystown there were eight mills. This is unprecedented in the Irish archaeological record. The book also describes the large number of artefacts recovered, included dress accessories, domestic equipment, and the tools and by-products of craftworking. Some finds testify to personal moments: a ringed pin from a cloak accidentally dropped into the swirling waters under a mill, or a glass bead carefully placed around the neck of a child being laid to rest. Other finds included imported luxury goods indicating that Raystown was connected to a trade network with Anglo-Saxon England and the European mainland in the fifth to mid sixth centuries AD. The book is available from Wordwell Books, €25.

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