2001:1017 - OLDBRIDGE: Site 4, Sheephouse Road, Meath

NMI Burial Excavation Records

County: Meath Site name: OLDBRIDGE: Site 4, Sheephouse Road

Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 01E0267

Author: Dermot Nelis, IAC Ltd.

Site type: Enclosure

Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)

ITM: E 705079m, N 774311m

Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.707905, -6.408358

This site was identified during monitoring along the route of the Northern Motorway, Gormanston– Monasterboice, Contract 7, approximately 500m south of the River Boyne. It was on gently sloping, northerly-facing ground.

The two-month excavation revealed a series of narrow linear ditches, a curvilinear ditch, a U-shaped ditch and several possible post-holes.

The earliest activity appeared to have been a shallow pit, aligned east–west. It was 0.17m deep, 0.77m long and 0.7m wide. It was oval in plan with a gradual break of slope at the top and was truncated on the east side by a later ditch. No finds were recovered from the single fill.

The next phase of activity was the cutting into the natural of a ditch which also truncated the above-mentioned pit. It was a broad V-shaped ditch, c. 11.2m in maximum excavated length and c. 0.8m in width. It contained three fills. It had a sharp break of slope at the top and steeply sloping sides and was aligned on a north–south axis.

An oval pit, orientated north–south and measuring 0.37m in depth, 1.85m in length and 1.1m in width, truncated the above-mentioned ditch. No dating evidence was recovered from this feature.

A curvilinear ditch represents the next phase of activity on the site. It measured 1.42m in length, 0.36m in width and was 0.63m deep. No dating evidence was recovered from any of the eight fills. A small post-hole was found to be stratigraphically later than this ditch.

A series of shallow pits was also uncovered on the site, sealed by topsoil and truncated natural. No more precise stratigraphic relationships could be established for these features. As before, no dating evidence was recovered to help aid interpretation.

Post-excavation analysis is ongoing. The project was funded by Meath County Council.

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