County: Wicklow Site name: BALLYNATTIN
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 05E0741
Author: Melanie McQuade, Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd, 27 Merrion Square, Dublin 2.
Site type: Burnt mound and prehistoric settlement
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 722494m, N 671275m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.778595, -6.184330
As part of an assessment, eleven trenches were excavated across a proposed development site. The test-trenches targeted anomalies identified in the geophysical survey (05R060) and some trenches were excavated outside the survey area. The stratigraphy over much of the site comprised 0.28m of topsoil overlying natural subsoil. On the north of the site deep sand deposits (over 1m deep) indicate the presence of a palaeo-channel. A struck flint with evidence for retouch was recovered near to the channel. It was not associated with any archaeological features but provides further evidence for prehistoric activity on site.
A burnt mound measuring 23.7m by 8.3m and up to 0.33m deep was uncovered on marshy ground on the west of the proposed development. A thin spread of burnt material, 1.55m by 0.5m, was uncovered to the north of the burnt mound. Its presence suggests that there may have been contemporary settlement activity in the area. A post-hole, 0.18m in diameter, and two areas of burning were identified to the west of the burnt mound. The burnt areas were 2m by 0.75m and 0.9m by 0.48m. Two further post-holes, with diameters of 0.15m and 0.3m, were identified further to the west and are indicative of settlement activity upslope from the burnt mound. No evidence for the date of these features was uncovered during testing but, given their proximity to the burnt mound, they could potentially be prehistoric.
Further evidence for settlement activity, which could potentially be prehistoric in date, came from a post-hole, a stone feature and a circular pit on the south-east of the site. The post-hole was 0.25m in diameter and the stone feature was 0.9m east–west by 1m. The pit was 0.85m in diameter and was filled with charcoal and burnt stone. There was a 1.1m-wide ditch (F29) near to these features. It was 0.18m deep and had some charcoal and burnt earth in its fill.
A series of linear features identified in the geophysical survey were uncovered across the site and, with the possible exception of F29, they were probably field drains and ditches related to agricultural use of the land.
