County: Meath Site name: OLDBRIDGE
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 05E1349
Author: Matthew Seaver, CRDS Ltd.
Site type: Prehistoric site - lithic scatter
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 704928m, N 775167m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.715623, -6.410354
A programme of metal detecting and archaeological assessment of a flint scatter was carried out on the route of the proposed Oldbridge–Sheephouse bypass site at Oldbridge, Co. Meath. The site was included within Field 6, located immediately south of the Groggin’s field within the Battle of the Boyne complex.
Five flint scatters representing prehistoric activity (ME020–025(19, 20)) are visible in five fields in the Oldbridge estate (Cooney et al. 2001). The proposed development is in close proximity to one of the larger scatters (Cooney and Brady 1998).
The metal-detecting programme revealed 88 hits, of which 44 yielded objects retrieved by hand. These were all of agricultural origin or general domestic refuse and none were of specifically military origin. Following this, a total of 25 1m2 test-pits were excavated at random, with soil from each pit sieved through a 5mm mesh. A number of flint artefacts were found, but they did not form significant concentrations. Analysis of lithics suggested that the flakes, modified flakes and a rock crystal point to a Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age date. No features of archaeological interest were found in the test-pitting or subsequent topsoil-stripping, which was undertaken by a track machine with a flat ditching bucket.
References
Cooney, G. et al. 2001 A Pilot Archaeological Survey of the Site of the Battle of the Boyne, Oldbridge Estate, Co. Meath. Unpublished.
Cooney, G. and Brady, C. 1998 The Red Mountain Transect: The Results of a Pilot Field-walking Study in the Boyne Valley Area. Unpublished.
Unit 8, Dundrum Business Park, Dundrum, Dublin
