2001:1022 - PLATIN: Duleek Road, Meath

The site of the excavation was immediately north of the Duleek road in the townland of Platin, at the western edge of the motorway way-leave, approximately two miles from Drogheda, within the way-leave of the M1 Northern Motorway Contract 7.

Pre-development test excavations carried out on the site and surrounding areas by a representative of Valerie J. Keeley Ltd in October 2000 revealed part of a curvilinear ditch and some pits and post-holes.

Excavation began on the site on 8 November 2000 and was completed on 14 March 2001. The area of excavation measured approximately 66.5m east–west (maximum) by 31.5m (maximum). Prior to excavation the site was active agricultural land, mostly under pasture.

The earliest evidence for activity consisted of a series of concentric curvilinear ditches (C10 and C22, C12 and C271), which together formed the double-ditched subcircular Structure B, 15m in diameter. The nature of the fills of these ditches and their deposition within the gullies provided no structural evidence. It is probable that the gully was mostly filled through natural deposition of wash material and slumping or slippage of the sides. Fill C398 contained a piece of iron slag and a flint waste flake, and C23 yielded a fragment of a ceramic bead.

To the south of the western termini of C10 and C22 were the remnants of what appear to have been two similar curvilinear ditches (C271 and C12), which were interpreted as the interrupted continuations of C10 and C22. The outermost of these (C271) was cut at its northern end by C318 (Structure A). Once again it appears as though the cut filled naturally as a result of silting. Fill C274 contained the remains of a crucible.

Several features in the interior of this structure most likely belong to the same phase of construction. The largest of these was a pit (C16) 1.25m to the south of the eastern end of C10. It measured 1.46m in length, 1.29m in width and 0.51m in depth. The fills contained some horse teeth and other fragments of animal bone, too small to be readily identifiable. It is most likely that C16 functioned as a domestic refuse-pit, given the presence of animal bone and charcoal in its fills.

Close to the centre of the interior of the structure was a circular pit (C164). It is possible that this held a central roof support, although no structural evidence was present in the fills, which suggests that if the pit was used as a post-hole the post was removed at some stage and the hole was allowed to fill naturally.

Phase 3 was subdivided into two subsections: Phase 3a and 3b. Phase 3a constitutes the construction and occupation of Structure A, and Phase 3b represents its abandonment. It was clear that Structure A cut Structure B.

Structure A, 15m in diameter, was defined by two curvilinear gullies (C318, C8) and a number of internal features or possible roof supports. These two gullies formed a horseshoe-shaped enclosure with gaps or possible entrance features to the east and west of the structure. The northern section of the structure was C8, a curvilinear gully orientated roughly east–west. It measured 12.1m in length, 0.6m in width and was on average 0.3m deep. It was flat-bottomed with slightly curving sides, and was fairly consistent throughout its length.

This cut formed the foundation trench for 28 stake-holes (C533). These were located at an approximate distance of 0.28m from the inner edge of the gully (i.e. closer to the inner edge than the outer) and were spaced on average 0.3m apart. They were mostly 0.08m in diameter and on average 0.2m deep. They probably formed the basis for a post-and-wattle wall, the northern wall of Structure A.

The southern section of Structure A was C318, a curvilinear gulley orientated roughly south-east/north-west. It measured 14.5m in length, 0.64m in width and was on average 0.3m deep. It had gentle sloping sides with a flat base, and was fairly consistent throughout its length. As with C8, this cut also formed the foundation trench for a number of stake-holes (C532), 38 in total, ten more than in its northern counterpart (C8). They also had a similar setting within the gully, mostly located 0.15m from the inner edge. They were set approximately 0.3m apart and were on average 0.25m deep. Again they probably formed the basis for a post-and-wattle wall, the southern wall of Structure A.

There was no evidence of any packing material within the two gullies associated with this phase of construction, which may have been used to support the post-and-wattle walls of the structure. All recorded fills within the gullies relate to the abandonment of the structure (Phase 3b), and point to the process of natural silting in the gullies, followed by subsequent infilling of occupational waste, etc.

A number of features recorded within the confines of Structure A probably represented the foundations for the internal roof supports of the structure. The most substantial of these features was C336, which was almost central to the structure. It was most likely a double post-hole which acted as the foundation of the central roof support for the structure. The remaining internal features were also possible internal roof supports although they were not as substantial as C336.

The remaining features in this phase of activity were all located to the west of the structure, in what was termed Area C during excavation. The most prominent feature in this area was the remains of a possible hearth (C153), approximately 5m to the west of Structure A and most likely associated with it. It was 0.8m in length, 0.48m in width and 0.12m deep.

At a later date the hearth was truncated at the western end by a small pit (C92). The remainder of the features in this area consist of shallow and often irregular pits containing no dating evidence.

The archaeological evidence suggests that Structure A was dismantled at some stage. It appears that any post-and-wattle walls were probably removed along with any foundation packing material (if it existed). This process may also have widened the foundation gullies to their recorded dimensions, and this would explain why no packing material survived. The southern section of the structure (gully C318) was subject to a number of episodes of natural silting, side slippage and infilling of occupational material after the abandonment of the structure. The northern section (gully C8) was subject to the same series of deposition events as C318. This includes an initial deposit of silty clays, followed by slumping or erosion of the sides of the gully, followed by deposition of occupational material. Finds from the upper fills of these features included a whetstone, crucible fragments and glass beads, all of which appeared to be associated with Phase 4 of activity on site.

Phase 4 is mainly represented by two linear gullies (C24 and C26) and their associated features, in Area B of the site. The first of these gullies (C26) was approximately 4m to the north of C24. It was oriented roughly east–west and measured 12.78m in length, approximately 0.63m in width and 0.35m in depth. Its depth remained fairly consistent throughout its length, although it sloped gently to the east. The sides of the gulley were almost vertical and broke into a concave base, giving it a U-shape. The fills of this gully suggest that, for the most part, it silted up naturally. The western end of C26 contained evidence of in situ burning. The fill C27 contained frequent charcoal inclusions, along with occasional small rounded stones and a large concentration of animal bone. It also contained a sherd of pottery and an iron nail. A lens of dark grey charcoal (C210) lay within C27 and contained a copper-alloy ring.

Approximately 4m to the south of C26 was a second, similar, east–west-oriented linear gully (C24). It measured 14.45m in length, 0.54m in width and 0.32m in depth, and curved slightly in an east-south-east direction along its length. Its sides were quite steeply sloped, almost vertical in places. They broke into a relatively flat base which was quite shallow at the western end, but 3.4m from the western end it became much deeper (from 0.04m deep to 0.32m). It terminated in a post-hole (C40) at its western end.

The middle part of the gully contained evidence for industrial activity. C239 was a clay that contained a high ash content as well as inclusions of burnt clay and charcoal. This fill contained metal slag and a crucible sherd. It overlay an incident of in situ burning (C255), which contained several sherds of crucible, ferrous material and a substance which had a glass-like appearance. Immediately to the west of C255 was a layer of fire-reddened or burnt clay (C256) which overlay C255. Both C255 and C256 were sealed by a layer of black silty clay with frequent inclusions of charcoal flecks and occasional inclusions of fire-reddened clay fragments. It also contained a relatively high ash content which may have resulted from the raking out of embers and other similar debris from in situ burning such as C255 and C256.

To the south of C24 and C26 lay C70, a roughly east–west-oriented sublinear cut that ran for 3.73m but was truncated at its western terminus. The base of this feature contained a layer of fire-reddened or burnt clay. Some pottery, a clay mould and two pieces of iron slag were recovered from its fills. This would suggest that C70 had an industrial purpose and was most likely contemporary with both C24 and C26.

This phase of activity also had several pits associated with it; one of these, C251, a refuse-pit, contained iron slag, a sherd of pottery and a number of pot-boiler stones. The presence of pot-boiling stones and bone fragments suggests that some of the dumped material originated from a domestic or habitation source.

As noted above, some of the upper fills of the southern section of Structure A (C312, C326, C327, C351, C277) were the result of the deposition of industrial waste material from this phase. This material seems to have accumulated there after the abandonment of Structure A. Finds recovered from these fills included crucible fragments, slag and ceramic beads.

Three large pits in the north-western part of the site represent Phase 5. The first of these (C174) cut C8 approximately 3m from its eastern terminus. It measured 0.64m in diameter and was 0.74m deep. The cut was V-shaped in section, with steeply sloping sides tapering to a thin point at the base. It was filled with stony, silty clays. None of the fills contained any inclusions or diagnostic material, but the fact that it cuts C8 means that it post-dates Structure A. There was no evidence to determine a precise function for this pit.

The second of these pits was located just inside the entrance to Structure A. It measured 2.43m in length, 1.77m in width and 1.7m in depth. Its sides were almost vertical and broke into a shallow concave base. It was filled with sterile sandy clays which appeared to have slumped into the pit. Once again it was difficult to determine a function for the pit owing to the lack of evidence in the fills.

The final pit in this phase (C247) was 1.5m to the north of C318, near its eastern terminus. It measured 4m in length and 3.8m in width, and was dug to a depth of 2.5m, although it was not fully bottomed for safety reasons. This substantial pit had very steeply sloping sides all around. It was filled with layers of naturally accumulated silty clays. There was no evidence to suggest deliberate backfilling. Finds recovered included a chert barbed and tanged arrowhead. As with the other features within this phase, the function of this pit was not clear.

The site was cut by a number of north–south-orientated field drains which fed into C3, a substantial east–west-running ditch that formed the boundary between Platin and Rathmullan townlands. It ran along the northern part of the site, across the entire length and continued on beyond the site excavation limits. The recorded length of the ditch was 53.6m, with a maximum width of 1.6m and a depth of 0.65m. It was filled by C5, a dark brown silty clay that contained pieces of corroded iron and various sherds of pottery, dating from the 14th through to the 18th century. Towards the centre of the ditch C5 became very stony.

The entire site was sealed by topsoil and ploughsoil, on average 0.5m deep.

In summary, following the abandonment of Structure B, Structure A was built. Structure A was probably a post-and-wattle house with a roof supported by the central (double) posts. The archaeological evidence suggests that the structure was deliberately dismantled and abandoned at some stage, possibly just before the start of industrial activity to the east of the site. This is suggested because of the presence of industrial waste material in the upper fills of the southern foundation trench of Structure A, which filled up after the abandonment of the structure. Phases 2–4 would appear to date from the early medieval period.

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