2001:1368 - KILMURRY NORTH, Wicklow

Monitoring of topsoil removal in advance of the construction of a Bord Gáis Éireann gas pipeline by Ian Doyle (see No. 1357, Excavations 2001, 00E0509) identified a spread of burnt stone and charcoal at this location, to the south-east of Kilmacanogue village, on the lower slopes of the Little Sugar Loaf.

Investigation of the pipeline corridor around the spread confirmed the presence of further features, and by the time excavation was completed features had been identified along some 150m of the pipeline corridor. The majority of these were focused within an area of some 40m by 12m, the latter figure being dictated by the width of the pipeline corridor. There was a slight slope across the area excavated, with less topsoil, more erosion and the consequent deeper ploughing on the eastern side, and greater topsoil cover and better preservation on the western side.

A small hearth was identified some 40m beyond the northern limits of the main excavated area. This produced no diagnostic finds. Three small pits containing cremated human bone and charcoal were identified just beyond the southern limits of the main excavated area. While no datable finds were recovered during the excavation, charcoal analysis by Dr Ingelise Stuijts suggests that these cremations are broadly similar in date to the excavated features described below. Remains of a fourth cremation, some 90m further to the south, were also excavated.

Investigation of the original spread of burnt material identified by Ian Doyle confirmed the presence of further features in the area to the south and north. This became the main focus of excavation (other than the outlying features described above). A number of phases of activity were identified on the site and these can be broadly summarised as follows.

Phase 1 and Phase 2
The first activity to be identified comprised a round house and other settlement indicators, such as post-holes, stake-holes and one or two pits. This was designated as Phase 2, since it was originally unclear whether it was the earliest activity on site. Despite the presence of some stratified deposits, it was also unclear whether this activity represented a single continuous phase or a number of periods of occupation. The layers F229 and F903 appeared to represent activities contemporary with the round house, and no features were identified as pre-dating either layer. Where F903 was absent some features were present, but it is possible that the activity that produced F1410, a layer associated with a later phase, obscured any relationship with F903. These features were originally designated as Phase 1, and Phases 1 and 2 are discussed together here.

The round house was of the double-ringed form, with an outer wall slot and internal ring of roofing posts. A centrally placed hearth was also identified. The house measured some 11.5m in diameter, with the entrance facing the south-east. The roofing posts formed an 8.6m-diameter ring, concentric with the wall slot. The deposit F229 appears to have developed within the house during its use. Few artefacts, other than some pieces of struck flint, were associated with the round house.

The layer F903 was present to the north of the house. Both layers produced a number of sherds of coarse ware, of probable middle or late Bronze Age date (information courtesy of Anna Brindley). Other finds were confined to some struck and modified flint. Charcoal identifications included Pinus sylvestris and other indicators of an early date, suggesting that this phase dates from the middle Bronze Age or slightly earlier. Where other, similar, structures have been identified and dated, an early or middle Bronze Age date has been proposed.

The phase of occupation marked by the round house was followed by a change in use of the site. On three occasions a burnt mound trough was constructed, with subsidiary features to the north and a line of posts (orientated east–west) to the south; these were designated Phases 3a, 3b and 3c. A small number of pits and other features were identified as post-dating the round house. These may represent activity dating from the end of Phase 2 but pre-dating Phase 3.

Phase 3
During Phase 3a a series of soil deposits, F1408, F1409 and F1410, were delineated by a series of post- and stake-holes, perhaps indicating a rough structure of some kind, measuring 6m by 5m, although the actual form is unclear. A quantity of coarse ware (again of indeterminate middle or late Bronze Age date), some struck flint, two modified flint flakes and two scrapers were recovered from the interior of this ‘structure’. Later activity had mostly removed a burnt mound trough, stratigraphically associated with this phase. This appears to have originally been a circular pit. A line of posts appeared to demarcate the southern limits of the activity associated with this phase.

In Phase 3b a rough stone surface (F1403) partially lay over the earlier deposits (F1408, F1409 and F1410). This measured some 7m by 3m and extended towards the area where the previous trough had been constructed. A rectangular trough was also assigned to Phase 3b on the basis of its stratigraphic relationship with F1403. It measured some 2.1m by 1.14m and survived to a depth of 0.3m. It was constructed to the south of the Phase 3a trough and over the line of posts constructed in Phase 3a, truncating two of the posts. A new line of posts was added to mark off the southern limits of this area.

In Phase 3c, F1403 was superseded by a rough line of stones F1401, 6m in length and around 0.8m in width, which led to a more substantial stone surface, F1402. This measured some 4m by 3m. A further trough, 3.2m by 1.2m, was associated with this phase. This trough contained a central dump of burnt stone and charcoal, 0.57m wide. This suggested that a long, narrow, carved trough may have been present in the centre. A further line of posts occurred to the south.

There was remarkable uniformity and persistence in the layout of the Phase 3 activity and, although not described above, shallow deposits of burnt mound material were associated with each of Phases 3a, 3b and 3c.

Phase 4
A band of stones (F701), up to 1.1m wide and tracing a semicircle some 3m in diameter, was placed over the troughs associated with Phase 3 (although they were now all backfilled). A single green glass bead (3mm in diameter) was recovered from silty clay contained within the stones. This was tentatively dated to the Iron Age. No other finds or features were clearly associated with this feature.

A portion of a gully, F1001, was found to the north of F701. This was clearly cut through the Phase 3 features but did not produce any finds of medieval or post-medieval date. It was V-shaped in profile, c. 1m wide and 0.5m deep, and continued all the way across the pipeline corridor, arcing gently towards the south-east. This has been nominally associated with the Phase 4 activity, but could either pre-date F701 or substantially post-date it. It is unlikely that this relationship will be resolved from the excavated section, given the presence of so much charcoal derived from the Phase 3 burnt mounds in F1001.

Phase 5
A field boundary ditch, some 3m from the recently removed field boundary, was present on the site and produced some finds of post-medieval date. This feature was present all the way across the pipeline corridor, was up to 2m in width, and survived to a maximum depth of around 0.7m. Previously, a laneway known as ‘the Green Lane’ ran along the line of this field boundary.

2 Killiney View, Albert Road Lower, Glenageary, Co. Dublin