2001:1039 - RATHMULLAN: Site 15/16, Meath

The site was discovered during testing along the line of the Northern Motorway, Contract 7 (Drogheda Bypass). It was in an area of firm ground on a ridge fully intervisible with Platin promontory fort to the south. When first uncovered by mechanical excavator, during a test-trenching exercise, the site appeared as a scattering of small subsoil-cut features and dark spreads grouped within an area measuring approximately 40m east–west by 50m. Completion of topsoil-stripping revealed the site to measure 110m east–west by 75m.

The site consisted of a series of three main foci — a circular structure, a large pit of undetermined function from which an assemblage of prehistoric worked timber was recovered, and a timber circle from which a large assemblage of good-quality lithics and prehistoric pottery was recovered. These foci, which were located at the eastern, northern and western boundaries of the site respectively, were surrounded by a large number of subsoil-cut features of various periods containing a wide variety of artefacts.

To the south of the large pit a small cut was found to contain an almost whole but shattered pot of Western Neolithic type (Helen Roche, pers. comm.). To the north of the circular structure an area of metalworking ran under the eastern site boundary. This metallurgical activity is of as yet unknown date but is stratigraphically later than a narrow linear feature which ran uninterrupted in a meandering east to west line across the 110m length of the site and beyond both limits of site investigation. To the east of the timber circle an otherwise sterile pit revealed a barbed and tanged flint projectile head of superior quality, 0.06m in length. The central area of the site, while containing an abundance of archaeological features, contained little immediate evidence of date or function.

The circular structure at the east of the site measured 13.5m in diameter. Its outer limit was characterised by a shallow structural slot. This slot was first interpreted as a possible drip trench owing to the absence of any post-holes or depressions in its rounded base. Further investigation of the structure revealed a series of six shallow post-holes perfectly situated along the arc of this slot within an 8m interruption of its perimeter at the north-west. A second, south-east-orientated interruption of the slot was interpreted as an entrance. This opening was paved with a very fine, compact, metalled surface which ran through the entrance and was at a later date re-levelled and repaired with a surface of far inferior quality. Internally the roof of the structure was supported by a series of eight posts, represented by shallow truncated post-holes at approximately 1.5m intervals. These posts may have been augmented by a small, slightly off-centre post, which was also represented by a small, truncated, post-hole. This feature may, however, have belonged to a separate phase of activity as stratigraphic evidence did indicate some pre-structural features within and outside the building. The very base of a severely truncated burnt feature was excavated toward the centre of the building; this may represent a central hearth. The ceramic material recovered from the fills of the slot-trench structure has been tentatively identified as middle Bronze Age (Helen Roche, pers. comm.).

At the northern limit of the site a large pit was excavated. This may have functioned as a well or as a deer-trap. As yet no direct parallels have been discovered for the feature. The pit had maximum dimensions of 7.5m north-east/south-west by 4.3m and was almost 2.8m in depth. It was largely sheer-sided except at the south-east, where a gently sloping ramp brought the feature to a depth of approximately 1.3m. The waterlogged nature of this pit preserved a wealth of organic material, including hazelnuts, twigs and a large assemblage of worked timbers (alder, willow and hazel: Ingelise Stuitje, pers. comm.). These timbers were sealed beneath a layer of compact clay which in turn lay beneath a deep layer of typical burnt mound material. This material contained large sherds of prehistoric pottery which appeared to be of Bronze Age date. The burnt mound material was identical in nature to and stratigraphically contemporary with the fill of a bath-shaped feature immediately to the south-west of the pit. This feature and a similar cut located 2.5m to the west have been tentatively identified as burnt mound troughs.

The timber circle excavated at the western limit of the site was composed of twenty post-holes in a circle over 7m in diameter, with a further portico arrangement opening to the south-east and a central setting of four posts in a roughly square arrangement. Toward the rear of the timber circle a shattered urn base containing some flecks of burnt bone was discovered lying directly on subsoil. Perhaps evidence of a cut surrounding this find was removed by topsoil-stripping. Although the form of this post-hole complex is almost identical to the Grooved Ware circle excavated at Knowth, the artefactual evidence is confusing. Lithic material removed from the features included a stone axe, a deliberately placed end scraper and a large quantity of flakes and blades struck from prepared cores — evidence indicative of later Neolithic activity (Shane Delaney, pers. comm.). However, the large quantities of ceramic material recovered from the same features appeared to be of middle Bronze Age date, including Cordoned Urn pottery of particularly high quality (Helen Roche, pers. comm.).

Discussion
The archaeological material removed from Site 15/16 varies in quality, quantity and date. Interpretation of the stratigraphic evidence is ongoing and will finally depend on completion of specialist reports and the application of scientific dating techniques. All specialist artefactual interpretation given above is as yet unclarified. It is, however, clear that the area was the site of prolonged, intensive activity throughout the prehistoric period. The large enclosure, Site 17, Lagavooreen, is situated immediately to the south, and the site exists in a wide area of intervisibility with sites such as Platin fort. Public dissemination of the excavation findings has already begun with a short lecture to the Louth and Meath Historical and Archaeological societies in June 2001.