2010:188 - Knader, Donegal

Test excavations were carried out on the proposed site of a water treatment plant for the Ballyshannon water supply scheme, which is located to the west of Knader Lough. The site lies within a field that slopes westwards to the lake and comprises uneven ground with outcropping rock and areas of overgrown gorse bushes and high reeds. An enclosure and burial site (DG107/108–01, 02) lie c. 164m to the south of the proposed treatment plant and the proposed pipeline and water intake works are located partially within the area of archaeological constraint around the monuments. Two possible archaeological sites, a cairn and a boulder burial, were identified adjacent to the proposed development area during field-walking undertaken as part of a preliminary assessment. The test excavations aimed to establish whether archaeological material was present in the area surrounding the possible boulder burial, and possible cairn. Eight mechanically excavated test-trenches revealed a thin layer of topsoil across most of the site with deeper peaty deposits uncovered close to the lake, on the western end of the site. No archaeological features or finds were identified in any of the trenches excavated on-site.