County: Westmeath Site name: MULLINGAR (Area D)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 00E0091
Author: Stephen Reed, Eachtra Archaeological Projects
Site type: Pit-burial
Period/Dating: Bronze Age (2200 BC-801 BC)
ITM: E 651317m, N 749962m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.497158, -7.226568
Topsoil-stripping on the N4 Mullingar Realignment and Widening Scheme revealed the presence of two charcoal-filled pits some 0.75m apart. The first pit was 0.54m by 0.46m in diameter; the second was 0.56m by 0.64m. Initial hand-cleaning of the area showed the former to be capped with redeposited, yellow clay subsoil; this sealed a silt containing abundant charcoal fragments and occasional burnt bone fragments. The pit itself was relatively shallow, some 0.1m deep.
The second pit was filled with a charcoal-enriched silt; during the deposition of this fill a stone had been placed into the centre of the pit. The stone measured 0.22–0.3m in diameter and was 0.19m deep; there were no toolmarks on the stone. No other features were recorded in the area around the pits. No finds were recovered from the area around the pits or from their fills. The fills of the pits were sampled in their entirety for full recovery of bone and charcoal for radiocarbon dating. Samples are awaiting analysis at the time of writing.
3 Canal Place, Tralee, Co. Kerry
