2004:1213 - COOKSTOWN GREAT (Testing Area 9), Meath

An assessment was carried out in advance of the planned M3 Clonee–North of Kells PPP scheme, Co. Meath, on the Navan–Kells and N52 Kells bypass (Contract 4) between July and October 2004. This section of the scheme is c. 11km long from the townland of Ardbraccan, north of Navan, to the townland of Cakestown Glebe, north of Kells. 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 fourteen 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 9 is located in the townland of Cookstown Great between Chainages 67350 and 68450. Within this area 20,682m2 of the total 144,818m2 made available was test-trenched, providing an assessment coverage of 14.28%. There were no known monuments within the vicinity of the testing area.

Cookstown Great 1 (Chainage 67400) was identified as an east-west linear feature with an irregular-shaped feature to the south. It measured 8.25m long east-west by 1m wide and contained a single fill of friable mid-brown silty clay with occasional 50–100mm stone inclusions evenly distributed. It had a sharp break of slope at the top with smooth, fairly steep sides on to a rounded U-shaped base. No artefacts were recovered. Testing failed to define the nature of this feature, but it is interpreted as being of potential archaeological significance.

A 0.2m-wide circular feature was recorded immediately east of the linear feature. This was provisionally interpreted as a post-hole but investigation revealed it to be non-archaeological, consisting of a shallow irregular depression filled with topsoil.

The irregular-shaped feature was located 4.5m south of the linear feature. It had an exposed length of 3.5m east-west by 2.5m. It had a sharp break of slope at the north and a gradual break at the south with a flat regular bottom. At the north end the break at the base was sharp. It extended beyond the trench in a westerly direction, but it was clearly terminating at this point and it is considered that it would not have an additional length of any more than c. 0.5m maximum. Testing showed it to contain two fills. The upper fill was a compact dark-brown silty clay with frequent charcoal flecks evenly distributed. The primary fill was a friable light-brown sand clay with no inclusions. No dating evidence was revealed from the 2m-long section excavated across the middle of the feature. This feature is possibly of modern agricultural origin, but its close proximity to the east-west linear feature referred to above suggests that it may be of archaeological significance.

Two burnt spreads and a single pit located c. 100m from each other were designated Cookstown Great 2. One spread of burnt stone was located immediately south of a marshy area (Chainage 67880). Its extent was fully established and it measured 32m east-west (max.) by 27.5m (max.). Testing showed it to be on average 0.3m deep, consisting of abundant burnt and broken stone in a loose black slightly silty clay. It was located on ground that sloped gently to the north.

This site is interpreted as the ploughed-out remains of a probably Bronze Age burnt spread, ideally situated on slightly sloping ground close to a stream. Two hand-dug sections were excavated, but there was no evidence for a trough. Due to the presence of the heat-shattered stone, however, it is considered likely that the presence of at least one such trough may survive in the immediate landscape.

The second burnt spread (Chainage 67980) sealed two small pits. To ensure that its extent was fully established, an area measuring 6m north-south by 5m was opened by machine around them. The burnt-stone spread measured 4m north-south by 2.5m and consisted of abundant burnt and broken stone in a loose black slightly silty clay. It was c. 0.2m in depth.

Both pits were located at the south end of the spread and were cut into natural. The first pit measured 0.9m north-south by 0.8m and 0.1m deep, while the second measured 0.7m north-south by 0.5m. The first pit had a gradual break of slope at the top with gradual irregular sides on to a generally flat but irregular base. Both pits were filled with charcoal-rich material and it is suggested that they may have been used as cooking areas, while the spread may have resulted from the discarded heat-shattered stone removed from the pits.

A single pit of probable archaeological significance, which was in turn truncated by two modern linear features, was identified 20m south of the burnt spread. A wider area measuring 6m north-south by 4.5m was opened by the machine to ensure that the full extent of this feature was established.

The pit was irregular-shaped in plan and measured 2m north-west/south-east by 0.9m and 0.35m deep (max.). It had a medium break of slope at the top with gently rounded regular sides on to a gently rounded U-shaped base. It was cut into natural and sealed by topsoil. It contained three fills. The primary fill was a friable sterile natural-like pale-grey silty clay, which may have been natural that silted back into the pit. This was sealed by a regular layer of stone (0.15m by 0.1m by 50mm) sealed with loose charcoal-rich dark-brown silty clay. This fill was curved and reached the surface on either side of the upper fill, which consisted of a compact light-brown silty clay with occasional pebble inclusions and charcoal flecks evenly distributed.

The pit was truncated to the south-east by a linear ditch-type feature, interpreted as being of modern agricultural origin, which split into two at the south. Both ditches were filled with compact grey clay with occasional small stones evenly distributed. The larger ditch was oriented north-east/south-west and was 1m wide by 0.45m deep. It had an exposed length of 2m. The break of slope at the top was sharp with steep regular sides, with a gentle break of slope at the bottom with a slightly uneven rounded base. The smaller ditch, oriented east-west, measured 0.7m east-west by 0.28m deep and had the same profile as that mentioned above. It had an exposed length of 1.5m. No artefacts were recovered from either the pit or the ditch-type features.

Two burnt spreads and a group of pits identified within 50m of each other were designated Cookstown Great 3. One of these consisted of an irregular-shaped spread of material usually associated with burnt mounds. It consisted of a moderately compact grey silty clay material with darker black (charcoalenriched) areas and frequent small cobble-sized heat-affected stones concentrated in the eastern part of the feature. It measured 6.3m north-south by 5.1m and was 0.35m deep. No artefacts were found associated with this feature.

A second spread of burnt material was irregular in shape and measured 12m by 6.75m by 0.14m deep. It consisted of a mid- to dark-brownish-black sandy silty clay with frequent heat-affected stones. Two possible pits/trough features were also identified. One was located close to the north-eastern limit of the spread and measured 1.7m by 1.6m. It also consisted of charcoal and heat-affected stone. The other feature was found in the extension trench and was truncated by an agricultural furrow. It also contained charcoal and burnt stone and measured 2m by 0.18m and was 0.22m deep. A slight mound was evident on the southern side where the topsoil had not been removed.

The group of pits consisted of six features located on the north-western slope of a slight hill c. 40m south-east of the burnt spread. There were three possible pits/post-holes. One of the possible pits measured 0.8m by 0.6m and was 0.08m deep. It appeared to cut a grey silty clay spread with frequent stones, located inside the pits/post-holes, which may be a possible work surface. A small spread contained charcoal on its surface and measured 0.8m by 0.7m. Just east of this was a smaller oval-shaped feature, possibly a post-hole, which measured 0.5m by 0.4m.

A subrectangular feature with rounded ends was also revealed. An extension trench was excavated to define the extent of the feature. It was orientated north-east/south-west and measured 4.2m by 2.6m (max.) and was 0.1m deep. The feature had a mid- to dark-grey/brown fill. The interpretation of this feature is unclear, although it may be another possible work surface. A possible extension of this feature with a similar fill was located to the southeast. This may, however, be a separate pit feature. The extent was unclear, but it roughly measured 1.8m by 1.3m. A small feature was visible under it in the location where it was sectioned and this may be a possible stake-hole. No datable artefacts were found with any of the above features.

An additional spread of charcoal-rich soil and burnt stone was located immediately north of a removed railway line. An area measuring 2m north-south by 3.5m was opened by the machine to define the extent of this feature. A near circular cut measuring 1.9m east-west by 1.8m by 0.25m deep was revealed. The break of slope at the top was gentle with smooth, regular, gradually breaking sides, with a gentle break of slope at the base with a slightly uneven but generally flat base. It was cut into natural and sealed by topsoil.

The single fill of the pit was a loose dark-brown sandy soil with much heat-shattered stone (c. 40%) and frequent flecks of charcoal. No evidence of burning in situ was revealed, as the base and sides of the cut showed no signs of burning. At this stage this feature can only be interpreted as a pit containing heat-affected stone. As it is located immediately north of the railway line, it is possible that it is associated with that and therefore would be modern in date. The results of the hand testing, however, would suggest that it is more likely to be of archaeological significance, although no associated remains were discovered.

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