2007:919 - AR076, Ennisnag, Kilkenny

This site was located within the N9/N10 Kilcullen to Waterford road scheme along Contract 2, Phase 4, Knocktopher to Powerstown, in a valley overlooking a small stream in Ennisnag townland. It contains two phases of prehistoric occupation: a cemetery complex comprising a pit-circle and two ring-ditches, and an industrial site. Traces of early and post-medieval occupation were also found.
A pit-circle and two ring-ditches were the main prehistoric features found at this site. The pit-circle contained a central pit surrounded by a ring of six pits spaced 1.7–1.9m apart. These in turn were enclosed within a 10m-diameter ring-ditch. Pottery recovered from the central pit appears to be Early Bronze Age, which is interesting as pit-circles in Ireland tend to date to the Middle Bronze Age. The central pit measured 0.36m by 0.44m by 0.24m deep while the pits of the pit-circle were up to 1m wide and 0.8m deep. The pit-circle pits and the ring-ditch were sterile in terms of finds. The ring-ditch was between 0.32m and 0.63m wide and up to 0.28m deep. It was truncated on the southern side by a post-medieval ditch. None of the pit-circle pits contained reliable evidence for supporting posts.
The two ring-ditches were located c. 30m north-east of the pit-circle. The larger of the two had a diameter of 8.3m and a depth of c. 0.5m. It was difficult to give a precise depth for the ditch because its lower parts were cut into limestone bedrock, which in turn had suffered from water erosion due to its exposure to the elements. The ditch was filled with silty clays with sparse charcoal flecks. A cremation pit and a hearth were found within the interior of the ring-ditch. The cremation pit measured 0.6m by 0.5m by 0.07m deep and contained a small concentration of human bone. The hearth was 1.25m by 0.8m by 0.3m deep and contained oxidised burnt clay at its base. It is possible that the hearth relates to a later phase of occupation rather than being part of a funeral pyre as it is highly uncommon to find these within ring-ditches in Ireland.
The smaller of the two ring-ditches had an internal diameter of 5m. The ditch was V-shaped and tapered almost to a point at its base. It was 0.45m wide and 0.3m deep. No features were found within the interior of the ring-ditch and no finds were recovered from the three silty clay deposits of the ditch fill.
Other features attributable to the prehistoric period on the site included six hearths of a similar size to the one found within the large ring-ditch. They all contained oxidised clay at the base and many contained charcoal-rich fills. One also had evidence for two bellows. Another contained a few Bronze Age pottery sherds. A rectangular pit cut into bedrock measuring 2.05m by 1.65m by 0.65m was found between the pit-circle and the two ring-ditches. It was possibly a water trough; 22 shallow pits or post-holes were found in the vicinity of the trough. These features suggest that industrial activity had taken place at the site, perhaps metalworking.
A small bowl furnace with iron slag and intensive oxidised burning represents early medieval activity on the site. This is perhaps an extension of activity at nearby site AR077 (see No. 920 below).