2002:1985 - RATHMORE, Wicklow

Test excavation (Excavations 2001, No. 1382, 01E0866) was undertaken in September 2001 at Kilmartin and Rathmore, Co. Wicklow, before construction of the N11 Newtownmountkennedy– Ballynabarny Road Scheme in an interchange area, which revealed four areas of probable prehistoric activity. One of these was excavated from January to March 2002.

The site measured c. 250m north–south by c. 80m. The northern limit was a large, natural, tree-filled ravine that curved across the landscape from west to east. From the north and north-western limits the land rose to high ground, with views of the Wicklow Mountains to the west and north and of the Irish Sea to the east.

The main focus of the excavation was a large enclosure toward the southern limit of the site, situated on a local ridge, giving it a slightly elevated position. The enclosure, which measured 38m in diameter, had a 3m-wide entrance to the north-east with a centrally placed post-hole. To the east the enclosure ditch cut a series of pits, several of which contained possible Neolithic pottery. The ditch was an average of 1.3m wide and 0.75m deep. It had steep sides and a narrow base in the south and west, and in the north and east the sides were slightly irregular and the base flatter. The entrance terminals were blunt and slightly rounded. The ditch was filled with a series of deposits representing initial silting of the open feature and then deliberate backfilling.

A possible kiln had been cut into the fill of the ditch before it had been fully backfilled. The remains consisted of a random assortment of stones, only a few of which were in situ. It was keyhole shaped, with a linear flue leading to a small bowl. The flue was 2m long and 0.7m wide, and the bowl measured c. 1.3m in diameter. Both flue and bowl were shallow, surviving to a maximum depth of c. 0.4m. The stones had collapsed into grey silty clay that also overlay the lower fill of the bowl, which was a loose, black, sandy clay with frequent charcoal inclusions and burnt clay, showing evidence of in situ burning.

The enclosure, though encompassing a large area, did not contain many features. Three pits were situated opposite the terminals, c. 4.5m from them, on the inside of the ditch, one of which contained flint debitage and prehistoric pottery. Three smaller features lay in the south-western quadrant of the enclosure. One further feature, an urn cremation, probably dating to the Late Bronze Age, was situated 1m inside the ditch at the southern extent of the enclosure. The urn had been placed in a circular pit, 0.34m in diameter and 0.19m deep. It was inserted upside down in this pit, and a packing fill of silty clay with frequent charcoal inclusions was placed around it.

The remains of a D-shaped structure and associated features were found c. 14m south of the enclosure. The structure comprised a semicircle of eight post-holes and a central post-hole. The semicircle measured almost 5m at its greatest extent. The eight post-holes were similar in morphology, with widths of 0.19–0.42m and relatively constant depths of 0.2–0.3m, although one feature was only 0.1m deep. The post-holes had vertical sides and flat bases and were filled with deposits of mid-brown silty clay with infrequent charcoal flecks. No artefacts were recovered from the fills to suggest a relationship with the enclosure. The post-holes appeared to be set in two groups of four, with an ‘entrance’ to the south-west. It is possible that severe truncation has removed the post-holes to the south-east and that the original structure was circular.

Many random pits and features were scattered throughout the excavated area, some of which contained possible prehistoric pottery. Post-medieval furrows and field boundaries were also in evidence throughout the excavated area.

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