2008:1064 - Drumiskabolle, Sligo

Testing was carried out at Drumiskabolle, Co. Sligo, between 4 and 9 September 2008. The proposed development entailed the retention of the existing landfill site and the filling of the remaining areas of the site. It was proposed to excavate five linear test-trenches across the development area. The area comprised 5.36 acres of wetland which had been previously filled with landfill material up to c. 3m deep. The work was carried out by a mechanical excavator equipped with a grading bucket. The five linear test-trenches were excavated parallel to one another in a north-west/south-east orientation and located 20m apart. Where the trenches were located close to the surrounding watercourses a 10m buffer zone was left between the trench and these surrounding streams and drains. All the trenches were excavated to the surface of the natural substrate to determine whether subsurface archaeological material was present. Each trench varied in length, the longest being 209m (Trench 1) and the shortest 65m (Trench 5). The trenches varied from c. 2.5m to 4.5m deep. The landfill material consisted of up to three heavily compacted layers of fill stratigraphically overlying one another. Throughout these fills there were frequent to moderate inclusions of modern building debris and rubbish such as metal wiring, pipes and lengths of timber. The overall landfill material ranged from 2m to 3.5m deep. Below this was a sod layer of blackened and rotten vegetation which was the original ground surface of the marsh; this overlay a layer of reddish-brown peat (c. 0.8m deep) which in turn overlay the natural gley substrate. No archaeological deposits were found during the course of the testing programme.

Moore Archaeological & Environmental Services, Corporate House, Ballybrit, Galway