County: Meath Site name: RATOATH: Dunshaughlin Road
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 04E0218
Author: Goorik Dehaene, for Arch-Tech Ltd.
Site type: Enclosure, Structure, Pit and Kiln
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 701715m, N 751937m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.507578, -6.466596
The development site, located c. 500m west of the village of Ratoath, comprises 18.35ha. The monitoring work described is contained within 19,000m2 of the site and constitutes the final phase of monitoring. Archaeological investigations to date in connection with the development include test excavation (Excavations 2003, No. 1453, 03E1416), monitoring (Excavations 2003, No. 1452, 03E1300) and excavation (Excavations 2003, Nos 1454 and 1455, 03E1632 and 03E1781), all by Angela Wallace, and geophysical survey by GeoArc Ltd, licence 03R0148.
Prior to monitoring, a portion of the area concerned was a farmyard and the remaining area was under pasture. Monitoring of topsoil removal was conducted using 360 degree tracked excavators employing toothless buckets. Twenty features extending over the monitored area were recorded.
A large ditch was identified c. 14m west of an Early Christian enclosure (03E1781). This ditch obeys the same curvature as the Early Christian enclosure ditch. 28.4m of the ditch has been identified. The cut of this ditch is U-shaped (3.4m in width and up to 1.4m in depth) and contains four silty clay fills. The feature contained slag. Located between this feature and the Early Christian enclosure was a large U-shaped shallow pit that contained some animal bone. It is suggested that this feature is associated with the boundary features of the Early Christian enclosure.
A large circular ditch with a diameter of 37m and, on average, 1m wide was exposed. The cut of this ditch is U-shaped and, on initial investigation, contained at least seventeen fills. The upper fill contained charcoal. The other fills predominantly comprise silts. An animal skull (horse or cow) was identified in the exposed surface of this feature. Artefacts recovered from the feature include prehistoric pottery (probably Bronze Age) and a stone spindle whorl. Surface finds included worked flint and chert concentrated in the west of the feature. Inside this large ditch a second, much smaller, circular feature was recorded. This internal feature has provisionally been interpreted as a structure.
Two north-south-aligned modern ditches cut the western portion of the feature. A north-south-aligned field drain cuts the eastern portion of the feature and a laneway and farm buildings have also disturbed the feature.
A post-hole and a pit are located within close proximity to the large circular ditch. The first comprised a regular post-hole (0.56m by 0.42m by 0.38m) without any associated structural elements. An irregular keyhole-shaped pit (2.2m north-south by 0.45-0.85m by 0.06m) was also associated with the large circular ditch. The southern portion of the feature contained a disturbed, probably stone-lined, circular cut (0.4m by 0.45m by 0.15m). Material recovered from the feature included prehistoric pottery (including grooved ware), worked flint, bone and fragments of burnt bone. The pottery and bone formed separate groups within the fill, indicating the possibility of deposition.
Other features identified included pits, keyhole-shaped kilns, scorched (or fire-reddened) deposits and a large ditch. The large circular ditch and associated deposits were excavated during 2005 under licence 05E0017.
Glascarn, Ratoath, Co. Meath
