2006:1308 - Sallymount, Limerick

The remains of pits and linear features were identified as part of test-trenching the proposed N7 route in early 2006. The opened trench (1128m2) was divided into sixteen grid squares (A–P). East–west plough furrows scarred the western area. Following the same orientation was a pair of much shallower linear depressions, with four smaller linear slots perpendicularly joining between them. The orientation and definition of these suggested they had formed as an imprint rather than structural slots, and perhaps a cattle-feeding stall on the surface had formed this. No finds were associated.
A large demolished boundary was encountered immediately to the south. This comprised a ditch with a peat-like basal fill then backfilled with redeposited natural. This had a U-shaped profile and was 1.6m wide and 0.33m deep. Roughly parallel to this (1.5–2m to the south) a second larger ditch was excavated. This was also U-shaped in profile and over 1.25m deep. Again, the most substantial fill was a redeposited mixed backfill that included modern pottery, metal, glass and shell. This boundary was still illustrated on the second-edition OS map. A second set of parallel ditches were aligned north–south but were on a much smaller scale. Both contained a single fill and both cut the backfilled ditches mentioned above. Finds included a piece of chert and a sherd of post-medieval pottery, which must be contaminants due to the stratigraphic relationships which were apparent. This north–south line could also be inferred from the second-edition OS map. The western cut of the north–south ditches terminated at the south in the upper fill of yet another large ditch, extending east. The remainder of the trench contained frequent agricultural furrows orientated north–south and these were found to be of no archaeological significance.
At the western end of the trench a number of features were stratigraphicaly earlier than the ditches. The largest was a curving linear cut, but this produced no datable material from the single homogeneous fill and may have been a field drain. This in turn truncated a short linear feature that extended west and contained a charcoal-stained fill. Between the parallel north–south ditches, beneath the line of a postulated bank, a single post-hole was found. Again, no datable material was recovered and its otherwise isolated position means that it is probably associated with the aforementioned boundary. The final ditch, extending eastwards, truncated a disused topsoil spread to the south. A single hone stone was found here, and a possible saddle stone within the mixed fills of the ditch may also have originated from the disused topsoil.
The cremation identified during testing was located centrally in the trench. The cremated bones lay in soft dark silt which was placed in a shallow pit. The cremation pit was oval in plan (0.29m in length) and was only 0.13m deep, although the sides were relatively steep. This had certainly been truncated.
An area measuring 15m by 20m, east of the cremation, produced numerous pits and potential post-holes. Two pits were clearly archaeological. The first lay 2m south of the cremation pit and comprised a pit with a stake-hole in the base, which was later truncated by a recutting of the pit and again the insertion of a stake into the base. Adjacent to this was a sizeable post-hole. Another pit further east had two stake-holes inserted into its base. After this had been backfilled, the pit was recut. Two post-holes to the north are also aligned with the stakes within the pit. There are two more pits and two deep post-holes 10m to the north. Another four post-holes and three pits are distributed across the area and post-excavation analysis is ongoing. There were no finds from any of the latter features, but all deposits were sampled.