2006:904 - SKAHANAGH, Kerry

An impact assessment was undertaken at a proposed development site of c. 4ha in Skahanagh townland to the south-east of Tralee town. In the recent past the northern extent of the site has seen extensive modern clearance and disturbance due to extensive infilling and dumping of building rubble and debris from various development sites in and around Tralee. New deep drains, a hardstand and widened access-way were inserted and some boundaries removed. Consequently, the site of an enclosure was buried beneath a massive amount of overburden material of up to 2.5m in depth. The enclosure had been levelled between 1841 and 1896. It is denoted on the first-edition OS sheet of 1841/2 as a univallate subcircular or ovoid hachured enclosure, c. 20m in diameter, but is not denoted at all on the second-edition OS of 1896.

The testing programme comprised two phases: Phase 1 comprised six trenches targeted over the location of the enclosure, cut through the modern infill material. Phase 2 comprised the excavation of 22 test-trenches over the culturally intact main southern area of the development site. The trenches excavated represented 13.78% of the testable area of the site. A track machine with a 2m-wide flat bucket excavated all trenches. Topsoil varied across the site from a dark-brown clayey silt to a mid-greyish-brown clayey silt with an average depth of 0.35–0.45m. The subsoil ranged from a white sandy silt to a mottled yellow/white sandy silt. The parent limestone bedrock frequently protruded from the subsoil.

The six transecting test-trenches of Phase 1 radiated outwards from the centre of the recorded location of the enclosure and found that the overburden material was comprised mainly of building rubble and other sterile material, with an average depth of 1.7m, although the depth varied across the trenches from 1m to 2.5m. The six trenches extended well beyond the calculated 20m diameter of the enclosure as denoted on the first-edition OS map. No original topsoil level survived beneath the overburden material. No trace of the enclosure or an enclosure ditch was identified in any of the trench sections. The aboveground remains of the enclosure site were probably destroyed in the latter half of the 19th century and the below-ground remains totally destroyed in the recent past. The monument site KE038–014 no longer exists.

Across the southern area of the development site, 22 test-trenches were opened. Two areas of burnt-mound material were recorded in Trenches 4 and 6 and were subsequently extended to determine their full extent. For clarity, these are referred to as Areas A and B.

Area A (Trench 4) contained the largest spread of burnt-mound material, irregular in plan and with maximum dimensions of 9m east–west by 8m. This material is frequently truncated by north-west/south-east plough furrows. The density of heat-shattered stones varied across the area, but an average morphology of 70% heat-shattered stones and 30% black sandy silt can be assigned. The western extent of the burnt-mound material is comprised of a dark-brown clayey silt with 30% heat-shattered stones, though it is not a discrete entity.

A north-west facing section was excavated across a small portion of the spread and revealed it to be 0.22m in depth and a possible trough cut was identified. The shallow cut had gradually sloping sides and a flat sandy base with an exposed length of 0.82m. There was no evidence of in situ burning. The full extent of this potential trough was not determined, but the exposed section indicates that it is not expansive in size. Therefore, it seems reasonable to suggest that there is more than one pit/trough in this area, given the sizeable nature of the burnt-mound material.

Area B (Trench 6), located c. 50m south-east of Area A, contained a concentrated spread of burnt-mound material measuring 1.85m north-west/south-east by 1.75m. The material was similar in morphology to that in Area A, comprising 70% heat-shattered stones and 30% black sandy silt. This material was also truncated by a north-west/south-east plough furrow. A north-west-facing section was excavated across the burnt-mound material, revealing a potential trough, which was found to be 0.45m in depth. Three archaeological layers were recorded beneath the plough furrow fill: a soft black clayey silt with 50% heat-shattered stones, a soft mid-grey clayey silt with 30% heat-shattered stones and occasional charcoal flecks, and a soft dark-grey clayey silt with 40% heat-shattered stones and occasional charcoal flecks. There was no evidence of in situ burning. The trough cut appears oval in plan with vertical sides and a flat base that has a slight inclination from north to south. A small deposit of burnt material measuring 0.35m in diameter, visible to the immediate south-west of the trough, is likely to be overspill from the main deposit of material.

Post-excavation analysis is ongoing, but preliminary results, from a single radiocarbon determination of hazel recovered in Trench 6, has returned a date of 2914±31 bp.

3 Lios na Lohart, Ballyvelly, Tralee, Co. Kerry