2001:962 - DONORE 6, Donore, Meath

The site was discovered during testing along the line of the Northern Motorway, Contract 7 (Drogheda Bypass). It was in an area of firm ground toward the ridge of a north-facing slope rising up from the River Boyne. When first uncovered by mechanical excavator the site appeared as a scattering of small subsoil-cut features grouped within an area measuring 11m north–south by 0.1m.

The site consisted of a series of four small to medium-sized pits, grouped in an apparently random manner. The largest of these features was an irregularly cut, steep-sided pit with an average width of over 1m and a maximum depth of 0.59m. The pit was filled by one deposit, which contained a large quantity of prehistoric pottery, charcoal, flint and burnt bone. These would appear to suggest that the feature functioned as a domestic refuse-pit.

Approximately 0.55m to the south a second, smaller pit was excavated. The morphology of this feature suggested that it may have been the result of the removal of a natural stone by modern ploughing activity, and although its fill contained inclusions of charcoal these may have originated in the larger feature to the north.

The other features excavated on the site were uncovered at some distance from these pits. A subcircular bowl-shaped pit, 0.15m in depth with a maximum diameter of 0.8m, was situated approximately 6.2m to the south. Its fills contained no direct evidence of its function.

A subcircular flat-based pit, 0.13m in depth with a maximum diameter of 0.44m, was situated approximately 4.1m to the south-east of the first feature discussed. This pit also contained flint, someapparently burnt stones and a large proportion of charcoal, which appeared to suggest its use as a refuse-pit.

No other deposits or features were identified during the excavation of Site 6. It is likely that the features excavated on the site represent an area of prehistoric domestic activity. These pits may have been the last remaining features of a more extensive occupation site almost completely destroyed by modern agricultural practices. However, given the situation of the site at the extreme western edge of the area of archaeological investigation along the road-line, it is possible that these features represent the eastern limit of a settlement site still preserved immediately outside the line of the road.