2008:692 - Green Street, Callan, Kilkenny

An assessment, including testing, was carried out in advance of the construction of a new building at the rear of a supermarket, on the south side of Green Street. Two test-trenches were excavated.
The northernmost trench measured 30m by 1.5m, and confirmed the appearance that the ground on the site had been built up in the modern era. The soil profile was 0.2m of sod and topsoil over 0.6m of yellow-brown clay with inclusions of brick, stone, plastic and modern debris. At 0.8m below the surface, a large lump of cement measuring 1m by 0.4m was noted. The western end of the trench was excavated to a depth of 1m and did not reach the subsoil. The trench continued, and the soil profile remained the same. The general depth of the trench was 0.45m, and up to 0.7m in places. The trench was completed and no material of an archaeological nature was observed.
Two segments of the second trench were excavated. The western segment measured 3m by 1.5m, and the eastern one 2.5m by 1.5m. The soil profile beneath this was 0.35m dark-brown silt (old topsoil layer) over 0.3m of red/brown/grey clay subsoil beneath this to the bottom of the trench. This material was archaeologically sterile.
These trenches showed that the ground had been built up, and there was an old ground surface at 0.75m below the present level of the carpark. No material of an archaeological nature was disclosed by the testing.