2005:1247 - STAMULLIN, Meath

Monitoring was undertaken at Stamullin, Co. Meath (see No. 1246, Excavations 2005, 05E0962), in advance of the construction of a hotel and access road. The resolution of archaeological features identified during monitoring commenced in November 2005 and is still ongoing. Site A is located on a north–south-oriented ridge in the northern part of the field and consists of a double-ditched enclosure and associated features. It incorporates the areas designated Areas 1–3 during monitoring. Site B (Monitoring Area 4) is located at the southern end of the field and contained a number of small features, including a cremation pit.

Site A
The curvilinear ditches in Site A form two oval-shaped enclosures, the inner enclosure encompassed by the outer ditch. The inner enclosure has an internal diameter of 37.5m (north-north-west/south-south-east) by 23m (east–west) and meets the outer ditch in the northern part of its circuit. The outer enclosure is 57.5m (north-west/south-east) by 47m in diameter (internal). Both enclosures have eastern entrances and their ditches are blunted V-shape in profile and appear to be contemporary. Late Bronze Age pottery has been found in both ditches.

Twelve sections were excavated by hand through the inner ditch. It has a maximum depth of 1.2m, becoming shallower (0.4m) and more U-shaped in the western part of the ditch. The inner enclosure has an eastern entrance, the terminals of the ditch having noticeably squared corners. A cobbled surface (2.8m wide) extends north-westward from the entrance for 12.6m into the enclosure. Only a few internal features have so far been identified, in contrast to the denser concentration of features situated between the inner and outer ditches. Numerous sherds of Late Bronze Age pottery were recovered from the inner ditch.

Twenty-two sections were excavated by hand through the outer ditch. The cut has a maximum depth of 1.75m in the western part of its circuit, rising to 1m deep in the eastern half. The outer enclosure also has an eastern entrance, but it is not in line with that of the inner enclosure, which is situated 4.5m further north. The terminals of the outer ditch also have markedly squared corners. A large quantity of Late Bronze Age pottery, three saddle querns and other stone artefacts have been found in the outer ditch.

The excavation of Site A is still ongoing and at present the features in the interior of the enclosure are being excavated.

Site B
Site B was located 600m south-east of Site A and covered an area of 40m (east–west) by 10m. Four linear/slightly curvilinear features, four irregular-shaped pits, four oval pits, two circular pits and one subrectangular cremation pit were identified. Two of the features were excavated under the monitoring licence (see No. 1246, Excavations 2005), the remainder being resolved under the current licence.

The majority of the pits were flat-bottomed and U-shaped in profile. They ranged in size from 0.7m in diameter to 1.2m by 1m. Overall the pits were quite shallow, measuring between 0.07m and 0.3m deep. The majority of the pits were single-fill features, the fills in general being quite sterile. One of the pits contained cremated bone and sherds of Late Bronze Age pottery and was excavated under the monitoring licence.

There were four linear/slightly curvilinear features, ranging in length from 1.53m to 3.8m and having a width of 0.68–0.78m. They were all relatively shallow, none reaching a depth greater than 0.4m. One of the features contained fire-affected material and was excavated under the monitoring licence. The remainder contained sterile fills.

The majority of the features in Site B contained sterile sandy fills. None of the features appear to form a structure. Post-excavation analysis is required to determine the archaeological significance of these features.

32 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2