County: Dublin Site name: KINGSTOWN
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 00E0256
Author: Mark Clinton for Valerie J. Keeley Ltd.
Site type: Pit
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 717425m, N 726108m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.272290, -6.239473
The feature came to light during topsoil-stripping in preparation for the construction of the south-eastern section of the Dublin ring-road motorway. The work was done over two days in early May 2000.
The surrounding terrain sloped down gently from south to north. In the immediate vicinity of the feature the ground was relatively flat.
The oval or subrectangular feature manifested itself in the form of a delimiting, irregular, black band with a dark grey fill interior. The surrounding area consisted of the exposed yellow boulder clay. The clay surface immediately beyond the limits of the black band of material had a reddish hue, which suggested that burning had taken place.
Excavation revealed that the feature was an oval or subrectangular pit. The pit was 1.25m long (east–west) and 0.84m wide. Maximum depth was 0.16m. The southern, western and northern flanks of the pit dropped quite sharply (the western flank in particular), while the eastern flank sloped down gently. The floor of the pit maintained a relatively even profile, although in the western sector it had a somewhat rough finish; this would appear to have been partly the result of the removal of two small stones by the original diggers.
The pit had been lined with a dense layer of twigs or brushwood. This layer attained a maximum depth of 0.09m. The layer of brushwood would appear to have been burnt, and there was a high charcoal content in evidence. The upper levels of the pit had subsequently silted up or been backfilled with a dark grey, silty layer to (old) ground surface level. The dark grey, silty layer attained a maximum depth of 0.07m.
There was no indication of any burnt bones or ashes in the fill of the pit. The only find was a river-rolled pebble (43mm x 33mm x 22mm in overall dimensions). The pebble came from the centre of the pit and had been deposited in the black/charcoal brushwood layer.
There was no surviving evidence of any potential structural associations with the pit. The topsoil-stripping to the west, south and east of the feature established that there was no ancillary activity in those areas. The topsoil-stripping extended only a further 2.5m to the north of the pit. A relatively modern drainage trench lay 8m to the north of the feature. The digging of the trench would have caused damage to any associated features that might have lain in that direction. A gas pipeline and the perimeter of a landscaped area (part of a modern housing estate) lay 16m to the north of the pit; the construction of both of these would have also caused serious damage to any potential associated settlement.
Brehon House, Kilkenny Road, Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny
