County: Dublin Site name: OLDCOURT: Ballycullen (Site 5)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 03E1475
Author: Ellinor Larsson, for Arch-Tech Ltd.
Site type: Pit
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 711692m, N 726216m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.274498, -6.325355
Site 5 was identified in July 2003 during Phase 7 of monitoring of topsoil-stripping which was carried out in advance of a residential development (No. 649, Excavations 2003, 02E0190 ext.). The excavation of Site 5 (Area N) was carried out in September 2003 and consisted of a small solitary pit with scorching around the edges of the cut. The feature was situated on gently sloping ground on a north-facing slope in the western part of the field, at 116.70m OD. The cut contained two fills, of which the lower was a soft dark-brown/ black silt with moderate charcoal flecks and occasional small stones; the base was lined with a thin lens of charcoal overlying the scorched natural subsoil. No finds were noted.
The site can be interpreted as a pit associated with burning or deposition of burnt material, and of a possible prehistoric or early medieval date.
Analysis of the contents is ongoing.
32 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2
