County: Longford Site name: DERRYCOLUMB 5 BOG, Derrindiff
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 01E0588
Author: Jane Whitaker, ADS Ltd.
Site type: Platform - peatland
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 608359m, N 760260m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.592138, -7.873733
This site (99DBSE0029A) was excavated as part of the 2001 Bord na Móna Archaeological Mitigation Project. It was partially exposed on the field surface approximately 1.5m from the drain edge and approximately 45m north-east, along the same drain, of the Bronze Age plank trackway (see No. 818, Excavations 2001, 01E0585). It was 18m south of another small brushwood and roundwood platform, 01E0587 (No. 820, Excavations 2001). A single cutting measuring 2m by 2m was recommended in the mitigation strategy document and this was placed 1.5m south of the drain edge.
The peat overlying the site was moderately to well humified. It was Sphagnum-rich with patches of Eriophorum throughout and occasional ericaceous heather root inclusions. This site was composed of two layers of brushwood separated by a 0.12m-thick layer of peat. The uppermost layer of brushwood consisted of four damaged longitudinal brushwoods with a single transverse and three small pegs along the south-eastern edge. The longitudinal rods were laid south-east/north-west and were badly broken along their length. The underlying peat was Sphagnum-rich with frequent small patches of Eriophorum and ericaceous heather roots. The lower layer of brushwood was longitudinally laid and closely placed, with two transverse rods overlying the site at the eastern end. Like the upper brushwood layer this was oriented south-east/north-west. These rods ranged in diameter from 0.01m to 0.03m and were in moderately good condition, although some elements had been broken by the weight of machinery passing above the site. While no tool-marks were noted, many of the elements were very branch-like with broken, forked ends, and over 50% had bark intact.
This site is similar to 01E0587 (No. 820, Excavations 2001) in that its immediate function is unclear. The macro-analysis of the peat in the field did not appear to indicate particularly wet ground conditions requiring a short stretch of togher along a defined routeway. The length of the remaining site also poses a problem. It was too short to be classified as a togher and yet appeared narrower and more elongated than many platform structures previously excavated.
Windsor House, 11 Fairview Strand, Dublin 3
