County: Wicklow Site name: Ballinacor East
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: A022/056; E3242
Author: Red Tobin, 35 Brook Meadow, Avoca, Co. Wicklow for Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd.
Site type: Prehistoric
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 726869m, N 686869m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.917658, -6.113450
This archaeological 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 initially revealed that the site was a burnt spread consisting of black silty clay with frequent charcoal and heat-fractured stone. It had an extent of 2.5m by 1.2m with a depth of 0.1m and was thought to represent the remains of a burnt mound or fulacht fiadh.
Subsequent excavation revealed that the burnt-mound material was laid down in a circular band over a stone-lined drain. The drain diverted water from upslope around the location of a rising freshwater spring. The spring had been deliberately blocked in recent times and the whole area utilised as a temporary landfill for domestic and agricultural waste. Upon clearance of the site it became apparent that there had been several unsuccessful attempts to drain the area, demonstrated by the insertion of linear stone-filled drains. 14C dating for this site is not available due to the extent of contamination. The combination of the spring, the circular drain and its ‘seal’ of burnt-mound material suggests that this site may have been a ritual site of some antiquity.
Editor’s note: Although excavated during 2006, the report on this site arrived too late for inclusion in the bulletin of that year.
