County: Louth Site name: DOWDALLSHILL
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 94E0075
Author: John Channing
Site type: Enclosure
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 705828m, N 809210m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.021233, -6.384986
The site was excavated as part of a project directed by Ms V.J. Keeley and was discovered during road construction (Dundalk inner relief road). Construction work had severely truncated the site prior to the excavation. The remains consisted of two ditches running at right angles across the road-take. An access/hall road had been cut through the ditches on the western side of the road-take. The site was located in an area of "Cut" and thus the ground had been dug away on both sides of and in between the ditches. The finished road will have a battered slope running up from the road edge to the road fence line. Some archaeology will remain undisturbed within this slope.
Apart from the two ditches, only one internal feature was uncovered; this reflects truncation of the site rather than distribution of archaeological features. The ditch had an average maximum width of 6.5m and depth, (cut into subsoil/bedrock). of 3.5m. The ditch enclosed an area of 50 x 51m. A geophysical survey (magnotometer), showed the ditch to form a rectangular enclosure, the eastern and western extents remain undisturbed on each side of the road boundary.
Finds from the ditch include Souterrain ware, a polished stone axe, a bone comb and flint fragments.
17 Rowan House, Sussex Rd., Dublin 4
