County: Louth Site name: COOLFORE
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 06E0407
Author: Jane Whitaker and Nicola Rohan, ADS Ltd.
Site type: Burnt spread, Pit and Ring-ditch
Period/Dating: Multi-period
ITM: E 704299m, N 779991m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.759083, -6.418250
Archaeological investigations were carried out at Coolfore, Co. Louth, in advance of the south–north gas pipeline over a period of four weeks in May. The site occupied an area measuring 22m north–south by 14m and was uncovered during the monitoring phase of works. It was located in low-lying ground at the base of the southern slope of a prominent ridge in undulating countryside. Two phases of archaeological remains were uncovered on the site. The earliest phase was composed of the eastern arc of a ring-ditch that extended from the western limit of the gas pipeline corridor. This phase was sealed by a layer of hill-wash into which a burnt spread, eleven associated pits and a hearth were cut. Finds were exclusively from the ring-ditch and a related pit.
The burnt spread was located at the south-east end of the site and measured 4m north–south by 12m. It was composed of charcoal-rich silty clay with frequent charcoal and heat-shattered stones. The fills of the pits were charcoal-rich. The average diameter of the pits was 1m. Nine of the pits were located at the northern end of the site. The remaining two pits and a hearth were located directly west of the burnt spread at the southern end of the site. No finds were retrieved from this phase.
The removal of the hill-wash deposit underlying the burnt spread revealed the eastern arc of a ring-ditch. It extended c. 6m from the western limit of the pipeline corridor and had a shallow U-shaped ditch. Finds recovered from the fill of the ditch included a flint blade, a whetstone and a small polished stone axehead. A finely worked leaf-shaped arrowhead was recovered from the fill of a pit that was located in the central area. These finds suggest a Neolithic date for the ring-ditch.
Post-excavation work is ongoing. Specialist macrobotanical, microbotanical and radiocarbon analyses will provide additional information regarding the function and date of the burnt spread and associated pits and for the ring-ditch.
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