County: Mayo Site name: Cashelduff
Sites and Monuments Record No.: MA063–033 Licence number: A020/010, E3336
Author: Richard F. Gillespie for Mayo County Council, Westport Road, Castlebar, Co. Mayo.
Site type: Cairn and burnt pits with Neolithic lithic assemblage
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 553871m, N 800241m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.949436, -8.702723
This site was excavated between 4 July and 4 November 2005 in advance of the construction of the N5 Charlestown bypass. It is clearly indicated on the first-edition 6-inch OS map as an enclosure, but it is absent from subsequent maps. Changes in field boundaries since the first-edition map and intensive cultivation as evidenced on the ground indicate disturbance of the site. The site was located in rough pasture with some marshy areas. It was identified in the environmental impact statement as a mound which ‘rises up gently on all sides from the base to an uneven top where two very low profile concentric fosse-like features exist E–W. The fosse-like features are accentuated by numerous tiny thorn trees.’ A sketch plan included in the EIS indicates stone facing at the base of the mound. A full open-plan excavation of the site encompassing a 25m by 25m area was carried out.
The site consisted of a disturbed cairn of medium-sized to large stones which rested on a raised area of sterile subsoil at 114m OD. There were two roughly concentric circles of larger boulders within the mound that may have acted as revetments for the cairn. This cairn enclosed an inner charcoal-rich area, which was oval in plan, measuring 10m by 7m. It overlay two burnt pits, which measured 3m by 2.3m by 0.33m and 4.48m by 2.2m by 0.33m deep. Both pits were filled with charcoal-rich loam and had bases of scorched subsoil and bedrock, which indicated in situ burning. There were no small finds from a secure context in these features, so radiocarbon analysis is required to determine their antiquity. It is possible that these were intrusive features related to later charcoal production.
A total of 176 artefacts were recovered from this site. Most of these were chert and flint tools and waste flakes including diagnostic Neolithic artefacts. These occurred across the site, with the majority coming from the north-west of the cairn. No diagnostic artefacts were securely stratified and most of the area was severely disturbed by relatively recent furrows.
Two other charcoal-filled pits were uncovered to the south-east of the cairn. Both were oval in plan and measured 0.3m by 0.94m by 0.1m deep and 1.87m by 2.2m by 0.52m deep. Both pits were filled with a charcoal-rich loamy clay with two basal deposits of charcoal and ash. A small amount of burnt bone was recovered from the fill of the larger pit.
