County: Meath Site name: GORMANSTOWN
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 96E0275
Author: Frank Ryan, Co. Mayo, for Project Director Valerie J. Keeley Ltd.
Site type: Burnt mound
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 716215m, N 766768m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.637790, -6.242594
The site was discovered during monitoring of topsoil removal prior to road construction on the Balbriggan Bypass. Excavation was carried out between 9 September and 10 October 1996 and revealed a layer of burnt and broken sandstone which was spread over an area of at least 50m2, extending beyond the confines of the excavated area.
An oval pit, 1.8m x 1.25m, with vertical sides was cut into boulder clay to the south-west of this burnt spread. It was 0.32m deep in the middle and contained burnt and broken sandstone with charcoal-rich soil. The base was unusually concave, sloping to a depth of 0.55m on the north side with a disturbed boulder clay fill, and 0.4m on the south side with a dark soil fill. Two slot-trenches to the east of the pit contained burnt spread material.
A circular pit, 0.55m in diameter, with sloping sides at the north end of the burnt spread was 0.57m deep, and contained three distinct layers of fill.
Below the level of the burnt spread, a slightly curved ditch, 4.8m long, contained a rounded terminal at its wide west end and a pointed terminal at its narrow east end. It was filled with redeposited subsoil and represents pre-burnt spread activity.
The site was disturbed in more recent times by a linear trench which cut through the fill of the main burnt spread deposit. A thick layer of ploughsoil formed the fill of the trench and covered the site on the east and north sides. The original ground surface sloped down towards the north-east end of the site. The low-lying part of the site appeared to have been waterlogged during occupation since the old ground soil was leeched and there was evidence of extensive iron panning in this area.
The two pits and the spread of burnt and broken sandstone, all containing charcoal-rich soil, provided the main evidence for what appeared to have been a burnt mound or fulacht fiadh.
Finds included a small quantity of cattle bone, which survived from the lowest level of occupation. Waste flakes of chert and flint were also recovered from all contexts, as well as a small cache of waste limestone flakes from one of the slot-trenches. Oval, hand-sized pieces of sandstone, which could have been used as hammerstones or rubbing stones, were also recorded.
Clooncundra, Belcarra, Castlebar
