County: Meath Site name: KILLEEN
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 05E0691
Author: Sheelagh Conran, CRDS Ltd.
Site type: Burnt spread
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 693310m, N 753642m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.524450, -6.592744
Excavation was undertaken, on behalf of Meath County Council, of sites uncovered during testing of the route of a proposed pipe trench, and during monitoring of the pipe laying. The works were part of the Dunshaughlin to Castletowntara Sewerage Scheme. Initial testing and monitoring was carried out by Red Tobin (Excavations 2004, No. 1236, 04E1499). A total of eighteen sites were excavated during 2004 and 2005 as part of the scheme.
This site, a small spread of burnt mound material, probably prehistoric in date, was set in a gently sloping landscape associated with a tributary of the Skane River, in an area that has been in intensive agricultural production and is close to old farm buildings. The site was situated on a spur off the main pipeline.
Below the topsoil after stripping for pipe-laying was found a possible cut which had as its fill a charcoal-rich silty clay with a small quantity of burnt stone; it had a maximum depth of 0.08m. The cut measured 0.65m by 0.64m by 0.08m. This may be the remains of a largely truncated pit, or, more likely, a natural pocket or depression that has silted up with material from a burnt mound that may once have existed in the vicinity.
Unit 4, Dundrum Business Park, Dundrum, Dublin 14
