County: Meath Site name: ARDSALLAGH (Testing Area 17)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 04E0421
Author: Stephen J. Linnane, Archaeological Consultancy Services Ltd.
Site type: Ring-ditch, Hearth and Cremation pit
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 688453m, N 762995m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.609319, -6.663338
An assessment was carried out in advance of the planned M3 Clonee–North of Kells PPP scheme, Co. Meath, on the Dunshaughlin–Navan section (Contract2), between February and June 2004. This section of the scheme is c. 15.5km long from the townland of Roestown, north-west of Dunshaughlin, to the townland of Ardsallagh, south-west of Navan town. The EIS recommended testing any known or possible sites identified and Meath County Council further proposed to test the whole of the remainder of the route. For the purposes of testing, this section was divided into 26 testing areas. The assessment methodology generally consisted of mechanically excavating 2m-wide test-trenches along the centre-line and perpendicular to the centre-line to the edge of the land-take every 20m. The work was carried out on behalf of Meath County Council, the National Roads Design Office and the National Roads Authority.
Testing Area 17 was located in the townland of Ardsallagh, between Chainages 34500 and 35500. Within this area, 10582m2 of the total 10,3491m2 available was test-trenched, providing an assessment coverage of 10.22%.
The Testing Area was situated to the south of the medieval Cannistown church (in ruins) and ran to the south-east, as far as the Cannistown road. To the north-west the area included additional extensions to the north-east and south-west, which will incorporate the proposed Cannistown Overbridge.
Testing along this section of the proposed route produced four sites, which were given designated names based on their townlands.
Ardsallagh 1, the principal area of interest, contained a prehistoric burial site in the form of a ring-ditch with an external diameter of c. 13m. Associated with the ring-ditch were both cremations (one within an urn) and inhumations. An initial interpretation of the site would be that the primary use of the burial site was within the Late Bronze Age with continued usage into the Iron Age, when extended inhumations became more common. There were also linear ditches in the vicinity, but no finds were made to indicate their date and archaeological significance.
Subsidiary sites included Ardsallagh 3, a post-medieval hearth constructed of brick and a reused millstone; Ardsallagh 4, an isolated possible cremation pit (the burnt bone from the pit has not been identified as animal or human); Ardsallagh 5, a complex of ditches and pits containing animal bone but no datable material. These features were situated close to the ruined Cannistown church and may be associated with Early Christian or medieval activity at that site.
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