County: Kildare Site name: Ardinode East
Sites and Monuments Record No.: - Licence number: 05E1426
Author: Marianne Nolan, for Valerie J. Keeley Ltd, Brehon House, Kilkenny Road, Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny.
Site type: Prehistoric cremation pits
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 690847m, N 708988m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.123697, -6.642682
This site was identified as a result of monitoring (05E1103) in November 2005, part of the archaeological requirement for Contract 2 of the Kildare water strategy. The water system between Ballymore Eustace and Old Kilcullen is being upgraded. This area encompasses parts of the east Kildare uplands and the plains of central and southern Kildare. It consists largely of agricultural lands, both pasture and tillage, in gently rolling countryside. The environment is rich in monuments from various periods, dating back as far as the Neolithic period.
Three cremation pits, which were used for the internment of cremated human bone, were dug into the ground at this location. Each of the features on the site was sealed by topsoil. One sherd of medieval pottery and some fragments of post-medieval pottery were recovered from the topsoil.
Two of the pits were circular in plan, with almost vertical sides and a flat base. They measured 0.7m in diameter and 0.44m in depth. The primary fills (0.25–0.28m deep) were loose dark-brown silty sand with many small pebbles and some mid-sized stones. These fills contained many small flecks of charcoal and cremated bone, as well as some pieces of struck flint. As the natural soil was very crumbly, one of these pits was lined in order to protect the cremation material.
The third cut was circular in plan, with almost vertical sides and a concave base. This cut was smaller than the other two. It measured 0.4m in diameter and 0.3m in depth. The basal fill was moderately loose dark-brown silty sand with occasional small sub-angular stones, many small flecks of charcoal and burnt bone. It had a maximum depth of 0.24m.
In each of the pits the fill was protected by sealing the upper part of the pit with a secondary fill, which was not directly related to the material for burial. There were no grave goods in association with any of the pits; however, some small pieces of struck flint were recovered in each of them. As the pits are similar in nature and within 1.5m of each other, it can be concluded that they are contemporary. The pits are prehistoric and it is hoped to attain a more precise date through carbon dating.
