2000:1018 - MULLINGAR, Westmeath

Area A, prehistoric and modern pits
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Topsoil-stripping revealed a group of seven pits, which appeared to be randomly spaced, all cut into yellowish-brown, clay subsoil, grouped around a natural outcrop of limestone bedrock; no stratigraphic relationship existed between any of the features. During the excavation of the larger pits, modern white-glazed potsherds, glass, bone and brick fragments were recovered from their fills. These must be regarded as modern pits, possibly associated with the now-demolished dwellings that lay to the west, at the junction of the N4 and R156 roads. Excavation of the remaining pits showed them to be relatively insubstantial, each c. 0.1m deep with diameters ranging from 0.2m to 0.5m. All of the pits contained charcoal fragments, though only one showed evidence of in situ burning. Charred hazelnut (Corylus) shell was recovered from its fill. No finds were recovered during the cleaning up of the area or from the pit fills. These features have been interpreted as a mixture of modern and possible prehistoric activity; samples taken from the pit fills are awaiting analysis.

Area A2, possible prehistoric pit
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Lying some 22m east of area A1 was a single shallow pit, irregularly rectangular in plan, 1.1m long north-east to south-west. Its width varied between 0.5m and 0.8m; it had a depth of 0.1m, containing one fill. The pit showed evidence of burning; the fill contained a high proportion of charcoal, while the base of the pit had been scorched by fire and oxidised to a redbrick colour. Initial examination of the flots from the samples taken from the fill has identified the presence of charred grain within the pit. No finds were recovered from the fill or surrounding area.

Area A3, industrial activity
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This area was 30m west of Area A1 and consisted of three subcircular pits, Contexts 16–18, cut into the clay subsoil. The pits were between 0.8m and 1.4m in diameter and up to 0.2m deep. The fills of these pits were very similar, the upper fill being a black clay with charcoal inclusions over a sandy matrix around burnt limestone fragments. There was no evidence of in situ burning in any of the pits. No finds were recovered during the excavation of these features. These features were similar to those encountered in Areas B and H (see Excavations 2000, No. 1021).

Area A4, agricultural drain
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Topsoil-stripping in this area revealed a linear feature running north-east to south-west, between 1.5m and 1.75m wide and 0.4m deep. Initial cleaning of the site showed it to be a filled-in, stone-lined drain or culvert; this was exposed over a distance of 13m in the middle of the road corridor. This feature represents a modern, probably late 19th-century, agricultural drain. A stone-built culvert of roughly the same dimensions as this feature was observed some 100m to the west in fields to the north of the scheme, draining under the N4 and R156 and into the ditch adjacent to the Royal Canal.

Area B, industrial activity
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Initial topsoil-stripping of this area revealed the presence of three large pits containing burnt stone and charcoal. Subsequent hand-cleaning of the area revealed the existence of a further five smaller pits, all exhibiting the same characteristics as the fills in the three pits exposed in Area A3. In addition, two other pits were revealed. In all, the pits were spread over an area measuring c. 18m by 16m. None of the pits showed evidence of having been subject to burning in situ; the burnt stone and charcoal had been placed into the pits when cool. The largest pit consisted of a cluster of interconnected pits. The shape and profile of the individual pits varied from circular with vertical sides to subcircular with irregular and undercut sides. All of these pits, while originally excavated individually, had infilled contemporaneously with layers of black silts and silty clays containing charcoal and burnt limestone. To the south-east side of the pit was a series of thirteen stake-holes; these were arranged, with the exception of four, in a row alongside the northern end of the pit, over a distance of 4.8m. While there was no corresponding row of stake-holes on the north-west side of the pit, there was a row of five stake-holes running into the pit. This row of stake-holes ran for 1.3m. Another group of five pits lay between this large pit and a circular shallow scoop, to the north-east. This pit, 1.5–1.7m in diameter and 0.1m deep, contained burnt limestone and charcoal.

Many of the pits containing charcoal and/or burnt limestone appeared to have been deliberately dug to the surface of the water-table and as a consequence contained waterlogged soils. Several finds were recovered from the pits, including a carved stone ring (a possible loom weight or spindle-whorl?), a metal perforated disc, a fragment of iron slag and corroded iron nails.

All of the features were cut by plough furrows. No datable artefacts were recovered from their fills. The find of a possible loom weight suggests that the pits may have been used for processing the raw materials for textile production, such as the soaking and fermentation of flax (Linum usitatissimum). The stake-holes may represent a wattle structure used for drying the processed material. Samples taken from the pit fills are awaiting analysis and may provide some evidence for the function of these pits.

3 Canal Place, Tralee, Co. Kerry