County: Waterford Site name: ADAMSTOWN 3
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 03E1217
Author: Ian Russell, Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd. and John Purcell
Site type: House - prehistoric
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 652901m, N 609496m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.234663, -7.225511
The remains of a large oval/circular house were exposed at this site during testing. The house was constructed from a number of post-holes with associated pits and hearths.
The excavation revealed the presence of at least four structures. The first was circular or oval in shape and was constructed from a large number of post-holes and stake-holes, with two internal hearths. The entrance was exposed to the south-east and appeared to have had a porch-like structure around it. A broken saddle quern was recovered from within one of the post-holes, with a second broken piece recovered from the topsoil nearby. A third house was provisionally identified below, or pre-dating, this structure. It appeared to have been constructed from a curved or circular slot-trench, which was partially exposed to the north-west, and had been cut by a number of the later post-holes and linear features. A number of body sherds of coarse pottery have been recovered.
The second house was exposed nearby, to the east. It was also oval/circular in shape and measured c. 8m in diameter. It has been constructed from a number of stake-holes within a slot-trench and contained a number of internal post-holes and divisions.
The fourth house was exposed to the north-west of House 1. It was constructed from a number of post- and stake-holes and contained a hearth and a large pit filled with charcoal and burnt-bone fragments. It is likely that the houses date to the Late Neolithic-Bronze Age period.
A number of linear features, pre-dating the houses, have also been exposed. They are roughly parallel to each other, are north-west/south-east in orientation and are c. 4.5m apart. It is possible that they may represent prehistoric field systems or traces of agricultural activity. In addition, a number of pits and small features have been exposed to the north-west, north, south and east of the house sites and these represent outlying domestic or industrial activity.
Excavation of this site has been completed and no further work is proposed.
Unit 21, Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co. Louth and 17 Balmoral Terrace, Dillon's Cross, Cork
