2002:1954 - BALLYNABARNY: Monitoring Sites 3, 6, 7 and 10, Wicklow

Three areas of archaeological potential were uncovered during monitoring of topsoil- stripping along the proposed route of the N11 Newtownmountkennedy–Ballynabarny Road Scheme. These included Monitoring Site 3 (02E0473), Monitoring Sites 6 and 7 (02E0474) and Monitoring Site 10 (02E0475). Monitoring Sites 6 and 7 were c. 40m apart and were excavated on 20 and 21 April 2002. Monitoring Sites 3 and 10 were c. 100m apart, c. 70m to the north-west of Sites 6 and 7, and were excavated from 23 to 25 April 2002.

Monitoring Site 6
This site comprised a large, shallow, oval pit, measuring 1.8m by 1.16m by 0.15m deep. The pit was bowl shaped in section and was filled primarily with a mottled, orange/grey, soft, sandy silt, containing a moderate amount of charcoal flecking, in its western half and a friable, grey, silty clay in its eastern half. A charcoal lens was noted, extending along the base of both of these fills, which overlay an orange burnt clay. In the western half of the pit, along its western edge, the remains of what appeared to be a small post-hole were uncovered beneath a layer of redeposited subsoil. This post-hole was 0.25m in diameter and 0.15m deep, containing dark brown/black, charcoal-rich, silty clay.

The charcoal-rich nature of these fills and the burnt soil along the base of the pit suggest that this may be the remains of a hearth pit, with the remnants of a possible pot stand in the form of a post-hole in the western edge of the pit.

Monitoring Site 7
This site had originally been uncovered as four small circular patches of charcoal-rich soil and burnt clay, to the north of Site 6. Excavation of the deposits revealed that two were merely the result of localised burning, being little more than 0.05m deep, and the third appeared to be the result of root activity. The fourth feature appeared to be the remains of a small pit, 0.6m in diameter and 0.13m deep, filled with a moderately compact, dark brown/black, silty clay with moderate charcoal flecking.

Monitoring Site 3
This site had been uncovered as three patches of charcoal-rich soil, surrounded by reddened, burnt soil, in an area c. 5m in diameter. Excavation of these deposits revealed this to be the remains of burnt root activity.

Monitoring Site 10
This site was c. 100m north-east of Site 3 and had been uncovered as a large oval pit, measuring 1.6m by 1.4m, filled with a compact, dark grey/black, silty clay with heavy charcoal flecking and numerous heat-shattered stones. Excavation of this fill revealed that the pit was 0.18m deep, with shallow sides and an undulating base. Beneath this fill, along the northern half of the pit, a series of stake-holes was excavated, 0.1–0.15m in diameter and 0.1–0.8m deep. All of these were filled with a similar deposit of soft, grey, sandy clay with light charcoal flecking.

The pit appeared to be the result of either habitation or industrial activity. It is possible that the remains represent an above-ground heating structure, as evidenced by the location of stake-holes at the base of an otherwise charcoal-rich soil-filled pit. In the absence of pottery and other finds, it is not possible to place this activity in any particular period or indeed to suggest a precise function for the pit.

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