2019:599 - COLP WEST, Drogheda, Meath

The site comprised a series of ditches representing a field system associated with a large Early Medieval Enclosure, RMP no. ME021-011002, that contains a cemetery, RMP no. ME021- 011001. Two cuttings were opened within the development footprint and centred on features identified in test-excavations following geophysical surveys. Cutting 1, to the north of the Enclosure, revealed two ditches, C4 and C10, aligned north-south. Cutting 2, to the west of the Enclosure, also contained two ditches, C16 and C18, aligned east-west. Hazel/alder charcoal from a basal deposit of ditch C04, near its northern terminus, produced a date of AD 540–650 (UBA-423956; 1480 BP +/- 28) and places it in the Early Medieval period (AD 400–1200). No artefacts were retrieved from the excavation. The animal bone assemblage included sheep/goat, pig, and deer with cattle and indeterminate large mammal predominating.