2003:2172 - WOODSIDE, Dublin

An excavation of a small penannular ring-ditch and associated pits and gullies was carried out during April and May 2003. The excavation was undertaken in advance of construction work for a distributor road, which is part of a large-scale residential development currently being undertaken east of the Enniskerry Road, Sandyford, Co. Dublin. A possible burnt spread had been identified near to these features during a previous phase of archaeological testing, but it was possible to preserve this in situ.

The site is at the southern end of a pasture field. The land in the area is reasonably well drained but it appears that the location of the site would have been subjected to periodic flooding from the adjacent Ballyogan Stream; the variety of natural soil deposits occurring on the site would appear to confirm this. The area excavated measured 16m north–south by 16m. There appeared to be several episodes of activity represented by the features excavated on the site.

It seems the earliest activity was the excavation of a penannular ring-ditch with an internal diameter of 4m east–west and an external diameter of 5.3m east–west; the ditch cut varied between c. 0.6 and 1.4m in width and c. 0.26 and 0.42m in depth. The cut widened substantially on the south-west side to 1.4m in width, but the edge here was very uncertain due to disturbance from an ill-defined linear feature. The edges for the terminals of this ditch were very uncertain.

There was no evidence to suggest that this ditch was ever a full circle. It is possible that it was partially truncated by the ill-defined linear feature. The ring-ditch was intersected at the central area by a second well-defined gulley or furrow.

This feature was also orientated north-west/south-east; there was a break of 1.4m in the feature within the interior of the ring-ditch. It would appear that it terminated at a stone socket and continued on, 1.4m to the south-east. The two furrows or gullies were roughly parallel.

The fills of the ring-ditch were quite sterile. There was an upper fill of orange-brown silty sand with very occasional small flecks of charcoal. This fill was quite distinctive, in contrast to the surrounding mustard-coloured sandy natural through which the ditch was cut. The upper fill changed on the southeast side to a coarse, gritty grey-brown. This fill was only present on the south-east side of the ring-ditch in the portion south of the cut for the intersecting gully. This fill was quite difficult to distinguish from the natural edges of the cut and it may have represented redeposited natural material.

The lower fill of the ditch consisted of a sterile, grey sandy silt. Five artefacts were recovered from the upper fill of the ditch: two flint flakes, a rounded oblong-shaped granite stone with a flat worn rubbing surface, a possible hammerstone and a kidney-shaped rubbing stone.

No evidence for an associated outer bank was noted. The enclosed area appeared to be slightly raised, but there was no indication of redeposited material to create a mound in the central area. It is likely that a naturally elevated spot adjacent to the Ballyogan Stream was chosen to locate the ring-ditch.

A single cremation pit was identified within the ring-ditch. It was very shallow and insubstantial, which would suggest that it had originally been cut at a higher level. It was not centrally located but was placed more towards the southern portion of the enclosed area. The upper surface of this feature was an irregular oval shape measuring 0.48m east–west by 0.3m, with a depth of 0.13m; the edge for the cut was uncertain on the southern side. As the fill was removed, the cut tapered into three points, giving the appearance of three small stake-holes. The fill consisted of a grey sand with frequent flecks of charcoal and occasional small pieces of burnt bone; at the base was a sterile soft layer of grey sand. The cremation was cut into a yellow, sandy natural deposit.

A small curved linear feature was excavated 0.45m west of the cremation; this also was within the interior of the ring-ditch. This feature had clearly defined straight-sided edges and a flat base; it was quite shallow at the northern end, c. 0.1m, and increased to a depth of c. 0.25m at its southern end, with a length of 1.6m north–south. The fill of this feature was a distinctive deposit of sterile light-brown, soft fine sand. The function of this feature is uncertain.

At a distance of c. 28m east of the ring-ditch, two additional cremation pits were excavated. No other features were found in the vicinity of these two pits.

The western pit was roughly circular in shape and had a diameter of 0.46m; it had a maximum depth of 0.26m, was U-shaped in profile and tapered to a small rounded base. This small pit had clearly defined edges. The fill consisted of a dark greyish-black sandy silt with occasional small angular stones and charcoal flecks and many small fragments of burnt bone. No finds were recovered from this feature.

Located 1.5m to the east was a second, larger, irregular-shaped pit measuring 0.58m east–west by 0.67m, with a depth of 0.2m. The cut for this pit incorporated a large granite rock on the north-east side. The cut was well-defined, in contrast to the surrounding yellow sandy silt natural.

This pit had two fills, an upper layer of mid-brown silty sand, slightly mottled with charcoal staining, with frequent small-to-medium-sized angular stones. There was no charcoal or burnt bone. This fill had a depth of 0.06–0.12m and a width of c.0.53m. The lower fill consisted of a dark black-grey sandy silt containing very frequent small fragments of burnt bone and charcoal. It had a maximum depth of 0.08m and a width of c. 0.57m. The cremated remains have not been examined by an osteoarchaeologist at the time of writing.

Two oval pits with burnt material were present near the ring-ditch; both were cut at a higher level than everything else on the site, into the topsoil layer. One, located c. 3.5m north-east of the ring-ditch, measured 1m east–west by 1m. It had a maximum depth of 0.2m and the base was relatively flat. It had three distinct fills: an upper layer of mid-brown fine silty sand with occasional charcoal flecks and a depth of 0.06m, but only c. 0.02–0.03m at the edges. This overlay a darker, softer layer with a higher concentration of charcoal. The basal layer consisted of scorched subsoil.

The second pit was 0.4m south-south-east of the ring-ditch. It measured 0.93m north–south by 1.16m and was cut into a lower level of the topsoil. It had clearly defined edges—the top of the cut may have been truncated slightly during topsoil-stripping across the area. The cut was shallower on the north side, at c. 0.05m, and deepened towards the north to c. 0.15m.

The base of the pit was undulating and was quite scorched, with patches of reddened soil. This pit had two distinct fills, an upper fill of dark-brown sandy silt with frequent charcoal flecks which sealed a thick lens of silty charcoal; there were big lumps of charcoal within this lens. The depth of this lens varied between 0.03 and 0.09m; it was slightly thicker on the southern side. It measured 0.93m north–south by 1.16m.

2 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2