2002:1505 - ORISTOWN, Meath

Monitoring was undertaken of the construction of a private dwelling at Oristown, Co. Meath. Monitoring of topsoil-stripping was a condition of planning.

The site occupied a level area in the west of a large, gently sloping field that was under grass. It was immediately north-west of the townland of Teltown, which lies within a bend in the River Blackwater and is the focus of a zone of concentrated late prehistoric and early historic archaeological activity. The Ordnance Survey letters: Meath record the locations of numerous artificial features, including raths, lakes and roadways (Herity 2001, 11–14). Intensive farming throughout the intervening years has damaged much of the pre-existing landscape.

The whole site was stripped of topsoil using a mechanical digger with a 1.5m-wide ditching bucket. The topsoil, which was c. 0.35m deep, was a friable, mid-brown clay loam with few stone inclusions. At the entrance from the road were three linear features running parallel to the road, c. 1.7m apart. These appeared to be the bases of furrows and may be from lazy-bed cultivation. Here the topsoil was slightly shallower, on average 0.28m deep.

The soil profile was uniform throughout the site. The entire footprint was stripped during the development, and the topsoil and subsoil were consistent throughout. No further features of archaeological interest were noted.

Some pieces of glazed china and a fragment of black-glazed earthenware were recovered at the location of the furrows. One piece of medieval pottery was recovered from the topsoil, a stray find with no associated feature. It has a compact, reddish fabric, with traces of a green glaze. It is probably of 13th- to 14th-century date.

Reference
Herity, M. (ed.) 2001 Ordnance Survey letters: Meath. Dublin.

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