County: Meath Site name: GORMANSTOWN
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 02E0326
Author: Emmet Byrnes, Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd.
Site type: Habitation site
Period/Dating: Bronze Age (2200 BC-801 BC)
ITM: E 717547m, N 766466m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.634780, -6.222565
Excavation was carried out from 11 to 15 March 2002 on a site at Gormanston, Co. Meath, as part of the Bord Gáis Éireann Pipeline to the West project (Section 6: Gormanston to Ballough). The site, identified during monitoring of topsoil-stripping, was recorded as an isolated hearth with associated stake-holes.
The excavation revealed a well-defined hearth and five pits, one of which had been used as a ‘hearth scoop’ and one of which contained a structured deposit, as well as an irregular arc of nine stake-holes or small post-holes. All of these features were contained in a shallow natural depression, measuring 4m by 4m.
The pit with the structured deposit was the most interesting feature. An andesite slab was set level at the base of the pit and chocked on three sides by stones. Carefully deposited on top of this slab were a fragment of a saddle quern, a possible rubbing stone and a large rimsherd of domestic Food Vessel pottery. A charcoal-rich deposit also appeared to have been deliberately packed at the same level along the southern side of the pit.
Apart from the material in the structured deposit, the only finds from the site were three flint waste flakes and a multi-planar flint core.
2 Killiney View, Albert Road Lower, Glenageary, Co. Dublin
