2004:1527 - KILBOGLASHY, Sligo

Testing in October 2004 in the vicinity of middens was part of an overall assessment connected with developments by Harrington Concrete (Sligo) Ltd at the Abbeytown quarry on the western side of the village of Ballysadare. Details of related testing at other sites can be found elsewhere in this volume: Kilboglashy, SMR 20:109(02) (No. 1525, Excavations 2004, 04EE1470); Kilboglashy, 20:109(06) (No. 126, Excavations 2004, 04E1471); Abbeytown, 20:158 (No. 1486, Excavations 2004, 04E1468); and Abbeytown, 20:159 (No. 1487, Excavations 2004, 04E1469).

The line of a recently constructed pathway along the eastern side of the Abbeytown quarry skirts the north-eastern quadrant of an enclosure, SMR 20:109(06), leading towards the ruins of St Fechin's Church, SMR 20:109(01), on a north-west to southeast axis, and after turning abruptly to the south-west terminates parallel to the north-west boundary wall of the graveyard, SMR 20:109(02). Testing was required along the line of the path between the enclosure and the graveyard to identify the location of possible middens thought to be in this locality and to determine the level of impact from construction of the pathway. A single 80m-long by 1.4m-wide by up to 0.7m-deep strip trench was opened along the eastern edge of the path. Topsoil was mechanically excavated by a tracked mini-digger fitted with a 1.4m-wide flat-edged ditching bucket. The cutting was aligned north-west to south-east, following a curving line along the eastern side of the new pathway, beyond which the ground level dropped steeply towards Ballysadare Bay.

Excavation revealed that the original ground level underneath the eastern edge of the pathway sloped steeply to the bay, but the slope was levelled by the dumping of heavy, stony, dark-grey/brown redeposited topsoil, up to c. 0.3m deep. Directly below the redeposited topsoil, primary grey/brown topsoil, c. 0.2m deep, was stratified on the subsoil, which was grey silty clay or gravel containing medium to large limestone blocks. The pathway itself, a gravel layer c. 0.15m deep, was partially constructed on the redeposited topsoil fill. Three small concentrations of animal-bone fragments associated with shells were encountered along the length of the cutting. This material was located 0.2–0.35m below the formation level of the new pathway. A concentration of mortared limestone rubble was noted 42–50m from the south-east end of the cutting. This material was deposited below the buried topsoil directly on the surface of the stony subsoil. No other archaeological deposits were discovered in the cutting and there were no artefacts.

The discovery of three small concentrations of animal-bone and shell material at the south-eastern end of the test cutting can be compared with the discovery of similar midden evidence c. 40m to the south in Cuttings 1 and 2 external to St Fechin's Church and graveyard (see Excavations 2004, Kilboglashy, 04E1470). The evidence suggests that the construction of the pathway itself had little or no impact on these scatters of midden material, as the bone and shell remains were encountered 0.2–0.4m below the formation level of the pathway. However, the construction of the concrete fence along the western side of the pathway would have involved the digging of sockets at regular intervals to secure the fence posts and this activity may have disturbed some animal-bone and shell deposits.

As was the case with Cuttings 1 and 2 at the graveyard, no artefacts were found in associationwith the animal-bone and shell scatters and it is not possible to state how old the material is or from where it derives. This section of the new pathway is very close to the rim of the natural escarpment above Ballysadare Bay. The dumping of debris and waste material over this edge is an activity that probably stretches far back in time but would also have continued until relatively recently. The cutting revealed that the margin has been extended to some extent by filling with topsoil and stone, and the pathway is constructed in part on the surface of this reclaimed ground. The rubble concentration noted in the cutting must also be related to dumping activity, as the location is too close to the escarpment to provide in situ evidence for a limestone structure.