2006:564 - BALLYNAKELLY, Dublin

The site was identified during a geophysical survey (licence number 04R130) carried out by Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd in October 2004 for the Cultural Heritage Section of an EIS for a proposed residential development in Ballynakelly, Newcastle, Co. Dublin. Subsequently a programme of testing was carried out by Christine Baker (Excavations 2004, No. 469, 04E1427) to determine the nature and extent of the archaeological remains identified by the geophysics survey. Testing confirmed the presence of an enclosure and a number of features of archaeological significance at the site. The enclosure measured c. 70m by 90m. The entire area of the enclosure was stripped of topsoil and, in addition, a 10m buffer zone was also stripped, in order to accommodate the successful excavation of the site.

The topsoil-stripping took place in March 2006. A double-ditched enclosure was identified, the inner enclosure being concentric to the outer enclosure at a distance of up to 35m. The enclosures were an unusual shape, almost square with rounded corners. The area between the inner and outer enclosure was divided by shallow linear and curvilinear ditches into smaller field enclosures.

The outer enclosure enclosed an area of 90m diameter. It had an average depth of 0.65m and an average width of 1.25m. The ditch was filled with a mid-brown silt with layers of charcoal and burnt clay in the east. The ditch petered out in the west but became gradually more substantial as it progressed east and then north towards the entrance to the inner enclosure.

The inner ditch had a diameter of 40m. The northern side of the enclosure extended beyond the edge of excavation. The ditch measured an average 1.45m in depth and 2–3m in width. The entrance, defined by two curving terminals, was located in the north-east of the enclosing ditch. Large stones were recovered from the terminals, suggesting a possible gate feature. There was no evidence that a bank had existed.

No definite evidence of domestic habitation was identified in the interior, but a number of features associated with habitation were identified. One large pit, possibly a storage pit, was excavated. It measured 1.45m in depth. Some animal bone and a charred wooden plank were recovered from the base of the pit, which had been subsequently backfilled to the surface. A number of curvilinear gullies were also excavated, varying in depth from 0.07 to 0.75m; a possible bowl was located at the west end of one of the gullies. The gullies were filled with a mid-brown silt with inclusions of charcoal, animal bone, burnt bone and iron slag; an iron knife was recovered from the fill of one. A number of smaller pits and four possible post-holes were also recorded.

A kiln was identified in the south-west of the site. It was figure-of-eight-shaped and filled with layers of charcoal-rich silt and scorching. A small pit or post-hole was located at the base of the bowl just below the neck. A second possible kiln was located 16m south of the first, just inside the outer enclosing ditch. Two deposits of charcoal-rich silt were recorded in the top fills of the outer ditch, where it was closest to the pit. It is likely that these deposits were dumped from the pit into the ditch in an effort to clean it out for reuse.

Later medieval activity was identified on the site in the form of a large comma-shaped kiln, agricultural furrows and an area of gullies and metalled surfaces in the north-west corner of the site. The kiln was located immediately inside the entrance to the inner enclosure. It is likely that the enclosure was still visible at this stage, as some reshaping of the entrance was identified.

A single human extended burial was excavated in the south-east of the site between the inner and outer ditch. This burial was heavily disturbed by later agricultural activity. A plough furrow truncated the skeleton and the grave-cut.

A round pit that contained the carefully positioned and neatly stone-covered skeleton of a small dog was identified. The pit had been dug into the base of one of the eastern radial ditches between the inner and outer enclosures apparently prior to its later infilling by silt, and the dog’s body had been curled up within it as though sleeping.

Artefacts included five iron knifes that are consistent with a type dating to the Early Christian period and a number of unidentifiable iron objects. Large quantities of disarticulated animal bone were recovered from the ditches.

32 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2