County: Kilkenny Site name: GARRINCREEN
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 04E0659
Author: Anne-Marie Lennon, for ACS Ltd.
Site type: Pit
Period/Dating: Bronze Age (2200 BC-801 BC)
ITM: E 652365m, N 654810m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.641975, -7.226266
Investigations here were undertaken as part of further investigations after a site of archaeological interest was identified during testing along the proposed route of the N77 Kilkenny ring road extension. The project was funded by the Department of Transport and the total archaeological cost was administered by the National Roads Authority through Kilkenny County Council.
An area of 400m2 was stripped of topsoil by machine, uncovering one additional archaeological feature within the footprint of the road-take: a pit similar to the two pits previously recorded during testing.
The pit was subcircular, measuring 1.35 north-south by 1.28 by 0.44m deep. It had three fills. The upper fill comprised dark-brown silty sand with much charcoal and small to medium-sized sub-angular stones. The middle fill was light-brown silty clay with occasional flecks of charcoal. The lower fill consisted of a mottled yellow/brown silt that contained occasional charcoal flecking, small stones and small lumps of redeposited natural.
The remains of two coil-built Early Bronze Age funerary vessels were recovered from the upper pit fills. The fabric of both pots is similar, perhaps indicating the use of the same local clays. Vessel 1 consisted of 23 sherds from an urn probably of vase type, c. 0.23m in maximum external diameter at the rim. The vessel has been decorated using narrow oblique scores in alternating, and occasionally overlapping, bands on the rim bevel. There are also some oblique cord impressions executed with a tapering twisted length of cord 18mm long. On the outer face immediately beneath the rim is a band of low pinched-up oblique ridges. There are both stab marks and cord impressions loosely arranged to fill the intervening strips but extending onto the ridges. Vessel 2 consists of three sherds from a bipartite vase food vessel. Decoration occurs on a single large body sherd from the widest portion of the belly of the pot. It is of poor quality and consists of short stab marks arranged in alternating opposed rows of oblique marks forming a loose herringbone pattern; beneath these is a fringe of vertical stabs. Analysis of the vessels was carried out by Eoin Grogan and Helen Roche.
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