County: Wexford Site name: BALLYELLIN
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: A003/052
Author: Kevin Martin, Valerie J. Keeley Ltd.
Site type: Burnt mound
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 721216m, N 667831m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.747942, -6.204532
The initial identification of archaeological features on the site was confirmed by testing under licence A003/005 as part of the N11 Gorey–Arklow scheme. Excavation commenced in August 2005 for a period of two weeks. The site was located in a low-lying area near the north-west bank of a meandering stream.
An irregular-shaped mound of charcoal-rich material, C4, was located in the centre of the site. It consisted of loose, dark-brown silty clay with frequent charcoal and burnt-stone inclusions. It measured 4.6m by 2.75m and 0.2m deep. The mound was half-sectioned and revealed a trough cut below. The trough was subrectangular and aligned north-east/south-west. It had a U-shaped cut profile with concave sides and base. It measured 2.2m long, 0.7m wide and 0.2m deep.
Located directly to the east and north of the trough and under C.4 were a post-hole and four stake-holes. The post-hole was circular in plan with a diameter of 0.18m and a depth of 0.12m. Its sides were concave to vertical and it had a concave base. The stake-holes were located at the southern half of the C.4 spread and east of the trough cut. They formed a rough rectangular area of 0.75m by 0.15m.
Feature C.29 was located south of the main charcoal spread in the middle of the site. It was rectangular in plan, had irregular sides and a varied compact clayey base. It measured 1.92m by 0.7m and was 0.38m deep. It contained three silty clay fills that contained varied quantities of charcoal and heat-cracked stones. The base fill was very similar to the main burnt spread and may indicate dumping or deposition of this material at the base of C.29. This feature may also have been used as a trough for heating water.
A palaeo-river channel was identified running across the entire width of Site 52 in a north-west/south-east direction. This feature was sectioned in the south-west corner of the site with a 2m-wide box-section. Its width varied from 4 to 5m and it had a depth of 0.39m. Four separate fills were identified. These were a mixture of grey clays and sands, with various inclusions of small pebbles and orange flecks. A linear field drain was recorded in this excavated section. It had a U-shaped cut profile, concave sides and a flat base. It was 0.3m wide and 0.3m deep. Its length was not determined.
A number of other isolated potential archaeological features were investigated in the north-western area of the site. However, upon half-sectioning it was found that all of these were of non-archaeological significance and formed due to natural depressions in the ground surface.
Finds consisted of worked flint, worked quartz and iron slag. Dating of these features awaits the return of results from the radiocarbon analysis of charcoal samples from the fill of the troughs.
Brehon House, Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny
