County: Wicklow Site name: Ballard Lower
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: A022/057; E3243
Author: Red Tobin, 35 Brook Meadow, Avoca, Co. Wicklow for Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd.
Site type: Prehistoric
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 726477m, N 687598m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.924301, -6.118991
This excavation was carried out on behalf of Wicklow County Council and the National Roads Authority in advance of the construction of the N11 Rathnew to Arklow road improvement scheme.
Testing at A022/057 identified the site as consisting of two burnt spreads. During preliminary cleaning one of these spreads was shown to be exceptionally shallow, representing burnt material accumulated in a natural hollow. The other feature when examined further consisted of an isolated pit with two fills. This was confirmed during subsequent resolution of the site. Samples from the site produced a date of 3770–3620 cal bc. This places this feature in the Early Neolithic period.
Editor’s note: Although excavated during 2006, the report on this site arrived too late for inclusion in the bulletin of that year.
