2001:880 - TULLYALLEN, Louth

This excavation was carried out in September 2001 as a follow-on from a systematic ploughzone survey of this field in 1997 as part of the Red Mountain Transect, a pilot field-walking study in the Boyne Valley area (Cooney and Brady 1998). The field chosen for the excavation is Field 6 in the Red Mountain Transect. Resistivity survey and phosphate survey were carried out along with small-scale test excavation in two areas (60m x 20m), to achieve a better understanding of the activities represented in the lithic concentrations identified in field survey. The research aim was to gather data that might provide a basis for interpreting the character and duration of the prehistoric activities represented by the lithics. The survey and excavation work was carried out as a focus of a field course, part of the Third Year undergraduate teaching programme of the Department of Archaeology, University College Dublin.

The two areas (A and B) were in the western part of the field and were 75m apart, with their long axes running east–west. The areas were contour-surveyed. Resistivity survey (at 1m intervals) and phosphate analysis (samples at 5m intervals) were carried out in both areas, each divided into three 20m by 20m panels (1–3). Metre-square test-pits were to be excavated in the south-west corner of each of the panels (A1–3, B1–3) in both areas. Archaeological features encountered in these test-pits were to be recorded in situ but left undisturbed.

The phosphate analysis indicated the presence of high phosphate values in both Areas A and B. That these are the result of phosphate enhancement through human action is suggested by the range of phosphate values in the areas. The most significant of these is likely to be that focused on the central panel of Area B, where there is a concentration of high values. The results of the resistivity survey appear to indicate primarily patterns of background, natural variation in resistivity levels rather than any human activity.

The six 1m by 1m square test-pits in the south-west corner of each of the three panels in Areas A and B were excavated by hand and the sediment was dry-sieved through fine-mesh sieves. The field has been intensively cultivated in recent years and the test-pits were excavated to the depth of the ploughsoil. This averaged 0.3m in depth from the surface and as the ploughsoil was a uniform sediment it was excavated in 0.1m spits. A range of finds was recovered. There was a dominance of post-medieval/modern pottery, representing the manuring of the field with domestic refuse. There were also some prehistoric lithics, mostly representing débitage but including a small scraper from the test-pit in panel A3. No features were recorded in any of the test-pits.

In comparing the results of the excavation with the pattern of lithic density revealed by systematic field-walking, the discovery of the scraper in A3 might be seen to match with the higher density of finds on the surface along the southern side of Area A. The finds from the test-pits in Area B, while indicating the presence of lithic débitage, did not indicate this area as being of particular significance, as the surface finds hinted. On the other hand, the results suggest that field-walking may provide us with the best overall indications of prehistoric activity in the field area.

Reference
Cooney, G. and Brady, C. 1998 The Red Mountain Transect. Unpublished report prepared for Dúchas.