County: Kildare Site name: BURTOWN BIG
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: E002994
Author: Lydia Cagney, Headland Archaeology Ltd.
Site type: Pit
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 674770m, N 694377m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.994897, -6.886214
This site was excavated as part of the N9/N10 Kilcullen to Waterford scheme, Phase 3: Kilcullen to Carlow. Two oval pits were identified during testing by CRDS Ltd. The site was located in a large, gently undulating rectangular field, which was under cultivation at the time of excavation.
A trapezoidal cutting measuring 834m2 was stripped of topsoil and ploughsoil to reveal two oval pits, which were separated by a distance of 4m and measured 1.9m by 1m by 0.38m and 1.36m by 0.62m by 0.27m. These pits were considered to bear a resemblance to grave-cuts when they were initially identified during testing; however, no skeletal remains were present upon excavation. Occasional fragments of burnt bone were included within a charcoal-enriched clayey silt deposited at the surface of each pit. Post-excavation analysis is ongoing and should provide a radiocarbon date and identification of the bone. Preliminary examination of the site would suggest that formal burial or cremation is unlikely.
Unit 1, Wallingstown Business Park, Little Island, Cork
