1992:163 - DEECHOMADE, Sligo

NMI Burial Excavation Records

County: Sligo Site name: DEECHOMADE

Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number:

Author: Margaret Keane and Jean Farrelly

Site type: Barrow - embanked barrow

Period/Dating: Undetermined

ITM: E 563559m, N 813010m

Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.064938, -8.556675

The research excavation of a small circular enclosure at Deechomade, Co. Sligo, took place for 3 weeks in August 1992. The funding was provided under the auspices of the National Committee for Archaeology of the Royal Irish Academy by the Office of Public Works.

The monument is situated on the shoulder of a north-east facing drumlin in pastureland. A bank, 1.4m wide and 0.6m in external height, encloses an area 8m in internal diameter. The dished interior is slightly raised above the external ground level. Prior to excavation, several boulders at the base of the bank indicated that the enclosing element is constructed both of stone and earth. The interior of the enclosure inclines with the natural slope to the east, with the bank heights diminishing in this direction. There is a 4m wide gap in the bank in the eastern quadrant, which may represent an entrance. Faint traces of a ditch were visible along the northern side of the site.

Two cuttings were opened, in the north-east and the south-west quadrants respectively, and also a trench at right angles to the long axis of the cuttings. The total area opened comprised 48m2.

In the interior there were 4 successive layers of tightly packed stone directly under the sod, each bedded in a sandy clay matrix. These layers were entirely composed of medium sized stones and occasional small boulders and were confined within the interior. Below the final stone horizon was a fine black sandy clay rich in charcoal. Several sherds of late terracotta ware with an internal black glaze were found at the base of the sod and within the first stone layer in one cutting. Small chert pebbles occur naturally within the local soil and were present in several contexts within the site. However, some quantities of worked chert were identified within the stone layer. No classic artefact types were noted, all trimming being confined to the edges.

The bank is composed of a series of gravel layers built up around a core of fine grey sand. The base of the bank appears to be the old sod layer augmented with redeposited sod. The outer face of the bank had been revetted with quite substantial boulders placed 2 rows deep against the bank. Where the revetment was absent, some boulders at the base of the bank may be all that remains of this feature. Among these boulders was a flint point, triangular in shape, with nibbling along the edges.

Excavation revealed that the site had indeed been surrounded by a ditch. This was 0.6m deep, 2.5m wide at the top and narrowed to a width of 1m at the base. Below the modern soil horizon there were interleaving layers of bank collapse and ditch fill. A series of layers of sandy silt with a high gravel content filled the lower portions of the ditch.

It is hoped that a final season of excavation, clarifying the nature of this site, will take place in 1993, after which a full report will be published.

17 Ormond Rd. Drumcondra, Dublin 9 and 67 Raheny Pk, Raheny, Dublin 5