2006:285 - New Street, Buttevant, Cork

Monitoring was undertaken at the site of a small-scale residential development within the zone of archaeological potential for the historic town of Buttevant (CO017–053(01)). Topsoil removal commenced at the western side of the development, close to the site entrance, where the overburden was extremely shallow, rarely exceeding 0.25m in depth. The depth of the topsoil increased significantly as groundworks advanced towards the central and northern areas of the site and the underlying subsoil consisted of orange/brown stony clay. At the southern end of the site the line of two narrow cultivation furrows, identified during a test excavation in 2003 (Excavations 2003, No. 183, 03E1886), were noted. Other cultivation furrows were also observed extending east–west across the development site. Monitoring at the eastern end of the site close to the main street revealed a continuation of a spread of stones identified in a test-trench excavated here in 2003. This feature was interpreted as the footing of a modern stone boundary wall extending from a house fronting onto the main street. No features of archaeological significance were uncovered during topsoil removal across the entire area of the development site.