County: Dublin Site name: COURTLOUGH
Sites and Monuments Record No.: DU004-048---- Licence number: 03E1076
Author: Cara Murray (IAWU), for Moore Archaeological & Environmental Services Ltd.
Site type: Burnt pit
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 718609m, N 759426m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.571311, -6.209197
A series of pits and two post-holes were excavated in July 2003 at Courtlough, near Balbriggan, Co. Dublin. The site was discovered during monitoring of a development access road, which formed a component of a development monitored under licence 03E0283 (see No. 477, Excavations 2003). Approximately 0.19–0.25m of fine-grained, loamy, brown topsoil was removed from above the site. This site was situated on the northern side of a relatively low glacial ridge, formed of well-drained, sandy boulder clay, which extended westwards into the development area. Prior to drainage for agricultural production, the area surrounding this ridge formed part of a poorly drained valley floor, of clayey subsoil with deposits of marl overlain by humic peaty soils.
The archaeological deposits were confined to an area c. 4m north–south by 5.5m, at the western edge of the access road footprint. As first exposed, the deposits appeared to be two small spreads of burnt stone within a matrix of charcoal-rich grey clay. Excavation, however, revealed a series of pits, post-pits and spreads of heat-shattered stones associated with a single phase of archaeological activity. These features were cut into the natural subsoil and a buried sod layer.
The archaeological activity evident at the site was a shallow depression filled with heat-shattered stones. This was subsequently cut by an oblong pit, measuring 1.52m north-west/south-east by 0.94m by 0.4m (depth), containing five fills, and an adjacent elongated trench, measuring 2.73m east–west by 0.92m by 0.1–0.39m (depth), with a post-hole cut into either end. Contemporary with this activity but not stratigraphically linked was a pit containing a charcoal-rich fill, which was partially truncated by a shallow depression. The only find from the site was a small piece of flint debitage; a small fragment of unidentified burnt bone was also recovered. It is likely that further material associated with the site continues north-westwards beyond the development footprint. There was no clear structural form attributable to these features as a consequence of the partial exposure.
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