2006:148 - Ballybannon, Carlow

The site was excavated as part of the N9/N10 Kilcullen to Waterford scheme: Kilcullen to Powerstown. It was situated directly east of the Carlow to Waterford railway line. An enclosure site (CW012–019) was situated 500m to the north, with an earthwork site (CW012–012) and moated site (CW012–011) located c. 800m to the north-west.
The site was subrectangular in plan and measured 12,954m2 when stripped. It lay on rolling cropland which gently sloped downwards from the north-east to the south-west. About midway down the site the land gently rose, forming a slight crest above a gentle south-east-facing slope. This crest formed the main focus of activity on site, with the majority of recorded features located here. At the foot of the slope, at the south end, the site was bounded by the railway line and a small east–west-lying stream that acted as a field boundary.
Excavation revealed a Bronze Age cemetery comprising four circular ring-ditches and eight cremation pits, one with an upright funerary urn. Four groupings of pits yielded prehistoric pottery sherds and lithics. Also present were two corn-drying kilns and burnt pits, miscellaneous features and post-medieval field boundaries and cultivation furrows.
Three of the four ring-ditches occupied the central area of the site, within an area measuring 20m by 40m, on the crest of the gentle south-west-facing slope. The fourth ring-ditch was situated towards the southern end of the site. All were annular but varied in diameter and one contained an internal cremation pit.
The southerly ring-ditch had a maximum diameter of 7.7m, was 0.8m wide and 0.15m deep. The largest ring-ditch had a maximum diameter of 8.2m, a maximum width of 2.3m and was 0.27m deep. Two smaller ring-ditches were located near the western edge of the site. The bigger of the two measured 4.1m in maximum diameter and 0.67m along its greatest width and had a maximum depth 0f 0.6m. The smallest ring-ditch measured 3.7m in diameter, 0.7m wide and 0.16m deep. It contained the internal cremation pit.
A total of eight cremation pits were recorded on site, seven of which occupied the central area of the site, where three of the ring-ditches were also located. The majority were subcircular in plan, with an average maximum diameter of 0.46m and an average depth of 0.15m, and all contained deposits with burnt-bone fragments. One contained an upright funerary urn which contained a dense deposit of burnt-bone fragments and soil. The vessel has been provisionally identified as a Middle Bronze Age domestic cordoned urn.
Four groupings of features had pits that produced large quantities of prehistoric pottery sherds, as did two isolated pits, along with a variety if lithics. It is not clear at this stage if these pits are contemporary with the funerary activity that occurred on site. A grouping of pits directly north of the southern ring-ditch appeared to be ancillary to it, but they cannot yet be positively identified as such.
Two figure-of-eight-shaped kilns, which correspond to the classic keyhole-shape morphology of corn-drying kilns, were recorded on site. Their orientations were similar: a northerly-situated kiln had an east–west orientation and an easterly-situated kiln had a north-east/south-west axis. Both features were earth-cut and had a lower scorched fire bowl connected by a flue to a higher, slightly scorched, drying chamber. No structural evidence such as post-holes or ‘wind breaks’ was detected and perhaps their orientations corresponded to prevailing south-westerly winds, which could aid combustion within the kiln. Two burnt pits were also excavated.
Two double-ditched field boundaries ran the width of the site. They shared a north-west/south-east orientation and similar make-up, suggesting they are contemporary. They are likely to be post-medieval in date. There were numerous cultivation furrows on site that matched the boundary ditches’ alignment, suggesting that this phase of agricultural activity was undertaken after the land division occurred.
Post-excavation work is ongoing.