2001:1137 - CALTRAGH, Sligo

A rescue excavation was carried out in the townland of Caltragh from July to November 2001 in relation to the proposed Sligo Inner Relief Road, in a field first recorded as Field G during the initial field survey and renumbered as Site 024. The excavation followed testing (see No. 1136, Excavations 2001, 01E0395) and geophysical survey (Ref.: 01R034) carried out by GeoArc Ltd in the same field in May 2001.

The site was subdivided into three areas (Areas 1–3). A probable Neolithic megalithic tomb was uncovered in Area 1, Trench 1, in the east of Field G, at the base of the valley at an altitude of approximately 34m. The excavation revealed 27 boulders and three stone sockets. No recognisable morphology could be determined as a portion of the structure lay beyond the limit of excavation and because of the modern disturbance of the monument. However, two distinct concentrations of boulders were noted. One of these was localised on and around a low, man-made mound and they seemed to be linked by a line of boulders. All together these boulders covered an area of approximately 135m2.

Some of the boulders were associated with a mound feature uncovered in the north-eastern part of the trench, approximately 1m to the west of the eastern limit of excavation. The mound had an oval to subcircular shape. It was 5m long (east–west) by 4m wide and averaged 0.4m in thickness. It was quite flat on top with gradual slopes on the edges, and was made up of several deposits that contained sparse to occasional flecks of charcoal. One of the boulders on top of the mound was standing vertically and was still within its socket, while most of the others were lying flat on their sides.

Several features were found to be associated with this mound. A stone spread was laid out on its top. Two large stone sockets were also recorded cutting into it. Only one of these had a corresponding boulder in situ. The empty socket could indicate that further boulders were present in the original structure. A cremation pit containing a shallow token cremation and a flint hoard were also found on top of the mound and cutting through the stone surface. The hoard consisted of seventeen pieces and the flint originated from Antrim. The cremation, forming the upper fill of the pit, consisted of a deposit of burnt material (mid- to dark grey sandy silt) with occasional flecks and lumps of charcoal and occasional small fragments of burnt bone. It was quite shallow, reaching 50mm in thickness. It was 0.32m long (south-east/north-west) by 0.2m wide. The upper fill of the pit may represent a token deposition of pyre material which included burnt bone. According to Laureen Buckley, who carried out the analysis of the burnt bone, the sample consisted mostly of very small fragments (125) of efficiently cremated human bone. She suggested that the fragments were deliberately crushed and that this was probably a token deposit. Ten small fragments of skull were present. The results from radiocarbon dating gave a conventional date of 4540 ± 60.

The western edge of the mound was truncated by a U-shaped feature. The cut and the enclosed area averaged 3.8m (south-east/north-west) by 3.2m. The cut was irregular in width (0.5–1.5m) and depth (0.15–0.4m). No archaeological features or structures were uncovered below the mound. A sample from the U-shaped feature gave a conventional radiocarbon date of 2970 ± 60.

It was thought that two main concentrations of boulders existed within the megalithic structure and that a curved line of five boulders joined the two concentrations together. This line had a slight curve and ran in a north to south direction. A cremation pit was uncovered 0.5m to the south-east of a boulder. This pit had an oval to irregular shape and measured 0.73m by 0.7m. Its depth reached 0.42m. The edges were sharp and the base was fairly uneven. Frequent fragments of burnt bone, as well as charcoal flecks, were extracted from the fills, which were fully sampled. Several fragments of prehistoric pottery were also found within three of the fills. According to Laureen Buckley, the total weight of bone recovered from this pit was 436g. It seemed to have been efficiently cremated, with only a few less well-cremated pieces. The proportion of moderate to large fragments of burnt bone was quite high so it was probably not deliberately crushed. The bone consisted mainly of human long bone, with a significant number of skull and tooth fragments. It was also estimated by Ms Buckley that there was at least one adult female and one juvenile aged between 4 and 10 years in this cremation pit. The pottery sherds, analysed by Helen Roche, were of an as yet unknown type, but could be a type of Beaker ware and may represent the remains of an urn. This type of pottery is usually associated with the last phase of the Neolithic to the early Bronze Age.

A knapping area, measuring 28m north–south by 12m, was uncovered in Area 1, Trenches 2 and 3. Of a total of 557 lithics recovered in Area 1, 332 came from this knapping area. Although no work surface was uncovered, a rough stone spread was found associated with the knapping area.

A large cluster of boulders was found in the northern part of Trench 2, Area 1. As the structure was not associated with any features, it was not possible to determine its real nature. A large number of small pits and spreads were also excavated in Area 1, throughout Trenches 1, 2 and 3.

Area 2, in the western half of the field, seems to have been affected by a wide variety of post-medieval to modern activities. A boreen ran along the entire northern limit of excavation and disturbed the prehistoric remains. Evidence of drainage associated with turf-cutting was found at the western edge of the area. A modern pathway was found to traverse the area in a north–south direction. A modern drystone kerbing was found running north–south across the northern part of the site. Two large modern cuts of unknown purpose were also uncovered in the northern part of the site.

Four fulachta fiadh were excavated in Areas 2 and 3, in the western part of the site. Three of these were found overlying the remains of prehistoric drystone walls. The excavation revealed that the walls divided the wet, marshy west of Field G from the dryer pasture to the east. All of the walls pre-dated the peat build-up, and seem to have fallen into disrepair before this build-up began. One wall, however, seems to have been constructed partially on top of the earliest peat build-up. Several charcoal samples were extracted from each of the fulachta fiadh for the purpose of radiocarbon dating to help in dating the occupation of the site and estimating the date of the abandonment of the wall. No trough was found in any of the fulachta fiadh.

The conventional date for the main fulacht fiadh excavated under licence 00E0819 is 3315 ± 50 (see No. 1134, Excavations 2001). Two others were dated to 3620 ± 60 and 3650 ± 50.

During preliminary investigation of Field G (Excavations 2000, No. 871, and Nos 1134 and 1136–7 above; 00E0817, 00E0819 and 01E0395), it was thought that a single continuous wall formed a semicircular enclosure 80m in diameter with a radial point c. 20m west of the western boundary of Field G. Many of the stones of this structure were visible at ground level. The wall was seen to run under the burnt mound of a large fulacht fiadh (see No. 1134, Excavations 2001, Site No. 6, 00E0819). Upon excavation it was discovered that this semicircular enclosure was actually formed by three separate structures. The longest wall uncovered in Field G, C.1103, is known to extend into the field on the south, where it appeared to underlie the northern extent of a probable barrow (not recorded in the Record of Monuments and Places). The exposed length of this wall was 53.5m. It ran from the southern extent of Field G in a roughly north–south direction. Its line curved slightly to form a shallow arc. When uncovered, the wall was found to be in a state of partial collapse. A defined undisturbed line of larger stones was still evident. This line was roughly 0.8m wide and 0.4–0.8m in height. The collapse was distributed evenly on both sides of the wall. The total width of the wall and collapse varied between 0.8m and 5m. The wall consisted of small to large stones and boulders. Roughly 50% were considered as large stones (averaging 0.3–0.6m in diameter), 45% were medium-sized (0.18–0.3m in average diameter), with the remaining 5% made up of small packing-stones.

A second wall (C.1068) was also recorded under the burnt mound of the fulacht fiadh of Site No. 6. It was 21m in length and had an average width of 1.5m. It ran in a roughly south-east to north-west direction. It was located between the other two walls and appeared to form a junction with them. Sparse lithic finds were recovered from amongst the stones of both walls.

The third wall (C.1008) uncovered in Field G was the most substantial structure in the field. It was located in the north of Area 2, to the north-west of Site No. 6. It was aligned east-south-east/west-north-west and had an exposed length of 32.75m. The width of the intact wall averaged 0.9m, while the width of the collapse varied considerably. It is estimated that the original structure was between 0.8m and 1m wide, and 0.7–1.1m in height. Two stages of collapse were recorded. Both were found intermittently along the entire length of the wall, both north and south of the intact line of the wall.

Two deposits of burnt animal bones were found amongst the stones of the wall. One fragment bore signs of decoration. These cremations were interpreted as ritual depositions.

A total of 1538 artefacts were found in Field G, including those found during the excavation of Site No. 6.

Apart from the industrial activities recorded in Trenches 2 and 3, ceremonial activities, represented in the form of megalithic structure(s), were recorded in the eastern part of the field. This monument was sited at the base of the valley at an altitude of approximately 34m. The cremations uncovered within this structure could be provisionally dated to between the late Neolithic and the early Bronze Age. Beaker ware was retrieved from the fills of one of the cremations. The remains of prehistoric drystone walls, forming part of a probable field system of unknown extent, were also investigated.

The archaeology recorded in this field is not isolated, and a large number of archaeological structures, monuments and deposits are present in the surrounding fields. The information gathered during this excavation and during the excavation to come will give valuable information about the prehistoric occupation of the Caltragh region in relation to all the known surrounding sites such as Carrowmore and Knocknarea.

Horge House, Camp, Co. Kerry