County: Meath Site name: KILLEEN CASTLE, Killeen (Site A)
Sites and Monuments Record No.: ME038-012 Licence number: 05E0303
Author: Christine Baker, Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd.
Site type: Excavation - miscellaneous
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 693113m, N 755159m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.538120, -6.595262
Site A is located north of the Loughmore Stud, within Killeen Demesne, along the 97m contour line, the surrounding topography sloping very slightly down from north to south. During the course of monitoring of topsoil removal for a sewer insertion (see No. 1201, Excavations 2005, 04E0949), Site A was identified as a series of pits and post-holes characterised by charcoal-rich deposits and burnt stone. Although truncated by ploughing, its morphology indicated the presence of features of archaeological origin and, consequently, a full excavation was undertaken. Topsoil (0.35m depth) was removed from an area measuring 20m north–south by 60m and subsequently cleared by hand. Evidence for later agricultural activity in this area was recovered in the form of tile, glass, red brick and whiteware. Seventy-six features of archaeological origin were recorded, the majority of which were cut into subsoil.
The site has no cohesive pattern, either spatially or stratighraphically. Ten pits were distributed throughout the site, the cohesive element being the presence of fulacht fiadh material within them. However, none of these features display evidence for burning in situ, neither do they have such burning in any proximity to them. Pit F26 was bordered to the west by a line of stake-holes that may have functioned as a fenceline delineating that activity. Similarly there is an almost linear stake-hole arrangement to the south-west of pit F20, which may have functioned as a windbreak against the prevailing south-westerlies. The remaining pits, which range from 0.15m to 1m in diameter, do not form a cohesive pattern and the variation in the fills they contain may indicate different or specific functions. The material assemblage for Site A was limited to 34 lithics, eighteen of which were recovered from features, including a preliminarily identified hollow scraper. This, combined with the fulacht fiadh material, infers a Neolithic-Early Bronze Age date. However, definitive dating of Site A will have to await radiocarbon analysis.
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