County: Meath Site name: ROCKFIELD/TOWNPARKS (Testing Area 12)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 04E0915
Author: Shane Delaney, Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd.
Site type: Burnt mound, Pit and Structure
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 673878m, N 774380m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.713872, -6.880828
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 12 is located in the townlands of Rockfield and Townparks, between Chainages 70150 and 71150; 9212m2 of the total 80,265m2 within this area was test-trenched, providing a testing coverage of 11.48%.
Three areas of potential archaeology, designated Townparks 4–6, were identified in Test Area 12. Townparks 4 was a truncated burnt spread/mound. Townparks 5 consisted of a number of charcoal-rich pits and a probable bedding trench for a trapezoidal prehistoric structure with an internal post-hole. Townparks 6 was a truncated burnt spread/mound.
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