County: Kildare Site name: BLACKRATH
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: E002870
Author: Gillian McCarthy, Headland Archaeology Ltd.
Site type: Cremation and Pit
Period/Dating: Prehistoric (12700 BC-AD 400)
ITM: E 681154m, N 700057m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.045012, -6.789717
This site was excavated as part of the N9/N10 Kilcullen to Waterford scheme, Phase 3: Kilcullen to Carlow. After the topsoil was removed from an area measuring 625m2 a number of features were uncovered, including two cremations, three pits and nine furrows traversing the site. The furrows cut through two of the pits but did not impact on the cremations. The furrows were very regular, measuring 0.1m in depth and 0.5m in width. They ran the width of the site in a west-north-west/east-south-east direction and were all spaced 2m apart. The three pits were circular in shape and measured between 1.5m and 1.6m in diameter and between 0.35m and 0.4m in depth. They contained one or two grey silty fills with charcoal flecks and some animal bone. The two cremations were similar in form to each other. They were circular in plan, measuring 0.3m average diameter by 0.23m and 0.29m in depth. The sides were vertical and the bases flat. They contained silty clay with charcoal and burnt bone. The deeper also contained five flakes of flint.
Wallingstown Business Park, Little Island, Cork
