County: Westmeath Site name: KINNEGAD 2
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 02E0926
Author: Deirdre Murphy, ACS Ltd.
Site type: Metalworking site
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 659440m, N 745567m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.456810, -7.104996
Testing was carried out before construction of the proposed M4 Kinnegad–Enfield–Kilcock Motorway Scheme. In February 2002, during centre-line testing of the motorway carried out by Ian Russell (No. 1876, Excavations 2002, 02E0108), three pits, a post-hole and two spreads were identified. The site was designated Kinnegad 2 and was excavated in July 2002.
Four large cuttings were opened in this field, and, although features were identified across the site, there was a notable concentration in the cutting in the north-western extent of the site. This cutting was on a prominent flat ridge, and almost 80% of the features were identified in this area alone. The features consisted of 26 pits, twelve post-holes, two stake-holes, four hearths, two linear ditches, furrows and spreads. The pits, mainly in the north-western corner of the site, were bordered by a linear V-shaped ditch, the fill of which contained animal bone. This ditch may be of antiquity. although a ditch 2m south of it appeared to be of recent date. Neither was present on the first- or second-edition OS maps.
The pits varied in shape from circular to oval to linear, and some were filled with slag, suggesting that they were smelting pits. Other pits were charcoal filled, with oxidised bases and sides, and a selection of prehistoric pottery of mainly Bronze Age date was recovered from them.
In the same area medieval pottery of 13th-century date was recovered from the fill of a pit and from an oxidised spread. Five post-holes extending in a straight line were evident along the edge of the V-shaped ditch and may be the remains of a fence or boundary. Organic material including nuts and shells was recovered from a deposit adjacent to one of the charcoal pits.
Only a small number of pits were identified in the three cuttings to the south-east, and some of these appeared to be modern. It was obvious that the main concentration of activity was on the flat ridge to the north. Where appropriate, charcoal samples were taken for radiocarbon dating, and it is likely that these will return dates ranging from the Bronze Age to the medieval period. It is probable that further pits survive outside the stripped area, and it is therefore recommended that this part of the road corridor be monitored during construction topsoil-stripping.
Unit 21, Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co. Louth
