Dating and Interpreting Landscapes of Livestock Herding: Excavation of a Hut Site and Enclosure in Southwestern Ireland

Grazing livestock in uplands was a widespread practice in late Medieval and early modern Europe, but there can be uncertainty about the date and function of archaeological sites associated with herding. This paper reviews fieldwork on such sites in northern and northwestern Europe and reports on the excavation of a hut and enclosure in the mountains of southwestern Ireland. The hut was found to have been built in the 16th or 17th centuries a.d. and was probably used to oversee dairy animals (likely cows). The enclosure was dated to the early 18th or early-mid-19th century a.d. and is more likely associated with goat milking. The excavations demonstrate that construction dates can be obtained for pastoral sites in uplands of northwestern Europe. Furthermore, with careful reading of features in the surrounding landscape and consideration of documentary and ethnographic evidence, fieldwork can help determine the nature of pastoral economies over time.