2002:1423 - BALGEEN 4 EXT., Meath

Three ditches, one possible pit and one spread were exposed beneath the sod and topsoil, 0.5m thick, lying directly above the orange boulder clay and stone. The southern and south-western parts of the site had been cut by the sloped motorway batter, which had cut a number of the features, including two ditches that were likely to have been connected. A large amount of animal bone was recovered from the fill of both ditches, suggesting that they formed the foundation trench of a possible oval or circular domestic structure. However, no other associated domestic features were exposed. A large spread was found in the interior of a possible structure, which contained some animal bone, a possible flint core and a waste flint flake/possible scraper, suggesting that it may represent an internal floor surface. This spread was also deposited above a possible oval pit. The third ditch, to the north-west, was clearly later than the possible circular structure, which it partially cut. Animal bone was also recovered from the fill of this ditch. The site lay to the north of that excavated by Helen Kehoe at Balgeen 4 (Excavations 2001, No. 943) and is probably associated with the two pits and the spread at that site. A charcoal sample from one of the ditches is being prepared for radiocarbon dating.