2004:1783 - STONEHOUSEFARM 6.1 AND 6.2, Westmeath

The site was identified during testing on the N6 Kinnegad-Kilbeggan dual carriageway (04E0579, No. 1246 above) 30m north of the centre-line, at Chainage 30090, close to a 19th-century field boundary. It was identified during testing as an area of burning or a small burnt pit. It was 30m north-north-east of a small area of oxidised soil, Stonehousefarm 5.2 (No. 1787 below), which was resolved during testing. Following mechanical stripping in advance of excavation, the site was exposed as comprising a northern pit, a southern pit, a stone socket, a linear cut and areas of oxidised soil. The linear cut and oxidisation were located over the extent of the southern pit and may be broadly contemporary.

The northern pit was sub-oval and measured 3.66m long, 1.42m wide and 0.58m deep and the size and form of the cut were very similar to the southern pit. The basal fill was orange/brown silty clay with organic elements that may have been collapsed or buried sod. The upper fill was the most extensive and composed of orange/brown silty clay with pebbles, stones and some charcoal on the surface. The southern pit was 0.44m to the south-west of the first and was oval, measuring 3.82m long, 1.89m wide and 0.38m deep. There was a thin basal fill of mid-brown peaty clay with decayed stones and roots that may have been buried sod. The upper fill was orange/grey sandy clay with four areas of oxidised soil on the surface. A sub-linear feature cut longitudinally through the fills and base of the pit. It was orientated north-south with rounded termini measuring 2.88m long, 0.61m wide and 0.22m deep. It had a single fill of brown/orange clayey silt with large amounts of pebbles and charcoal.

A single piece of brown-glazed pottery was recovered from the topsoil above the site and the features were interpreted as relating to reclamation and the creation of field boundaries in the 18th/19th centuries. No further analysis is proposed for samples recovered from the site.