County: Westmeath Site name: Macetown
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 06E0554
Author: Aidan Harte, Aegis Archaeology Ltd, 32 Nicholas Street, King’s Island, Limerick.
Site type: Two pits
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 655938m, N 749023m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.488252, -7.157099
Unlicensed monitoring in advance of the realignment of the N52 uncovered two small isolated pits at the western end of the scheme. The pits were only 1.8m apart and aligned north-east/south-west. Due to the scale and vulnerable position of the remains, they were excavated. There were no other archaeological features nearby (within the road-take). The shallow nature of the features strongly suggested that they were truncated by agricultural activity. The northern pit contained an incomplete pot, which was in a very fragile state. This pottery appears to be prehistoric and was surrounded by a dark silt fill. The southern pit was filled with a soft dark clay but contained no artefactual evidence; however, a stone debitage flake was found on the natural subsoil surface nearby.
