County: Offaly Site name: Ardan I
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: A033; E2493
Author: Liam McKinstry, Headland Archaeology Ltd, Unit 1, Wallingstown Business Park, Little Island, Cork.
Site type: Charcoal-production pit
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 634224m, N 727952m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.300754, -7.486562
Ardan I (extra testing), excavated in October 2007 in advance of the proposed N52 Tullamore bypass national road scheme, was located approximately 2km north of Tullamore town centre, in an area dominated by esker ridges. Prior to the completion of the CPO fence line and site clearance the area was used primarily as rough grazing for sheep and cattle.
Due to the topography of the area the test-trenching array was restricted to the low areas in between the esker ridges. Testing towards the southern end of the ridges revealed a subcircular shallow pit with a diameter of 1.6m and a depth of 0.16m. There were two fills to the pit, a charcoal-rich silty sand which formed the basal fill of the pit and a mid-blackish-grey ashy deposit. A sample was taken from the primary fill and will be used to date the feature and identify the species of tree used to produce charcoal at this location.
