County: Kildare Site name: HALLAHOISE
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: E002948
Author: Lisa Doyle, Headland Archaeology
Site type: Excavation - miscellaneous
Period/Dating: Undetermined
ITM: E 676177m, N 686086m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.920205, -6.867213
This site was excavated as part of the N9/N10 Kilcullen to Waterford scheme, Phase 3: Kilcullen to Carlow. Testing carried out by CRDS uncovered six potential cremation pits. Excavation was carried out between 7 and 28 September 2007 on a site measuring 130m by 60m. Excavations revealed eight linear ditches, four small sub-oval pits, four refuse pits, one horse burial, and one hearth with a concentration in the northern section of the site.
Ditches
The ditches followed two distinct orientations, one group traversing the site in an east–west orientation, ditches (9), (11), (13), (34) and (51), the other following a south-east/north-west line, ditches (15), (17) and (19).
Ditch (9) was situated towards the north-east of the site and extended 14m towards the centre of the site before terminating. It had a width of 0.9m, a depth of 0.35m and contained a single fill of mid-yellowish-brown sandy silt. To the south, running roughly parallel to this, was (11), a shallow ditch extending beyond the CPO in both directions with a width of 0.75m and a depth of 0.33m. It contained a single fill of mid-brownish-grey silty sand with inclusions of pebbles and occasional charcoal. Further south again ran (13), extending beyond the CPO in both directions, with a width of 0.5m and a depth of 0.85–1.8m. This was filled by a dark-brown soil with moderate inclusions of shell.
North of these and located towards the west of the site was a short linear feature (51) which had a length of 5.5m, a width of 1m and a depth of 0.13m. It contained a single fill of yellowish-brown silty sand with occasional inclusions of pebbles, roots and organic material.
The three ditches (15), (17) and (19) ran parallel to each other and roughly perpendicular to ditches (9), (11) and (13). Ditch (15) was the most easterly of these and ran for a distance of 17.3m, with a width of 1.2m and a depth of 0.33m. It contained a single fill of mid-yellowish-brown silty sand with pebble inclusions. West of this was (17), which ran for a length of 37m with a width of 1.3m and a depth of 0.6m. It was filled by light-brown sand with moderate inclusions of stone and occasional fragments of animal bone. Ditch (19) was situated furthest west and had a length of 14.5m, a width of 0.82m and a depth of 0.18m.
One ditch (34) was found in the south-eastern corner of the site. It extended beyond the CPO in both directions, had a width of 1.6m and a depth of 0.34m.
Pits
Most of the pits were found in isolation across the site. Located towards the eastern corner of the site was an oval-shaped pit (7), which had a length of 1.53m, a width of 0.75m and a depth of 0.35m. This contained a single fill, compact light-yellowish-grey silty clay, as well as the burial remains of a horse and neonate. Situated in the centre of the site was a possible hearth, with the surrounding natural showing scorching from exposure to heat. This pit had a length of 1.53m, a width of 0.8m and a depth of 0.39m, containing a single fill of a dark-grey organic material and burnt soil. Located at the intersection of ditches (13) and (17) was a large shallow sub-oval pit with a length of 5m, a width of 2m and a depth of 0.3m. It contained a single fill of dark-brownish-grey clayey silt with occasional inclusions of stones.
The other pits were small features, all being less than 1m long and 0.33m deep. Four of these have been interpreted as refuse pits, while two others were heavily disturbed by animal activity.
Unit 1, Wallingstown Business Park, Little Island, Cork
