2004:1856 - CHARLESLAND, Wicklow

This site was exposed during monitoring of topsoil-stripping for a residential scheme in Charlesland. This excavation was part of a programme of monitoring and excavation on a large development scheme carried out between December 2002 and August 2004, during which seventeen archaeological sites dating from the Neolithic to the medieval period were excavated. The main archaeological evidence, however, points to extensive settlement in the Middle to Late Bronze Age.

This site consisted of eight areas of archaeological activity dispersed along the east- and south-facing slopes of a hill. Natural subsoil varied across the site, from orange/brown well-drained sandy gravel on the slopes of the hill to more compact water-retentive clay at the break of slope of the hill. The archaeological deposits excavated varied considerably. A cereal-drying kiln, a possible roasting pit, the remains of a burnt mound, several troughs and various pits and post-holes were excavated within the eight areas. A possible structure was also identified, the morphology of which would suggest that it is Bronze Age in date.

A large number of burnt mounds and fulachta fiadh have been excavated throughout the development area in Charlesland. The sites excavated have been close to streambeds or in wet marshy areas. This is a typical location for such sites, and the burnt mound (Area 2) excavated at Site 1B was adjacent to a land drain, which is likely to be a widened and deepened streambed. Both troughs (Areas 1 and 3) were located at the base of a slope cutting water-retentive clay, which would allow them to have filled up naturally. The remains of these features were very truncated; the burnt mound in Areas 1 and 3 appears to have been completely removed, probably by ploughing. A large number of post-holes found in association with the trough in Area 1 may be the remnants of a small temporary structure, although no discernible pattern was visible in the positioning of the post-holes. Prehistoric pottery retrieved from a pit in close proximity to the burnt mound in Area 3 was identified by Eoin Grogan as Early Neolithic in date, so it is unlikely that these features were associated.

The possible structure identified in Area 8 presented as a series of post-holes. The post- and stake-holes do not appear to form a distinct structural pattern, but two rows of posts were identified, which may have formed a flimsy structure, which would appear from the ground plan to have been rectangular in plan. Three hearths within pits were excavated and perhaps these lines of posts were some form of windbreak. The lack of diagnostic artefacts lent difficulty to interpretation, but analysis of environmental samples may contribute to a further understanding of this site.

The results of this excavation correlate with the findings from the remainder of the sites excavated in Charlesland and fit in with a wider landscape of prehistoric and medieval settlement evidence emerging in the area.