2011:113 - MAWBEG, Cork

A geophysical survey was undertaken in advance of testing as part of pre-planning survey for a proposed extension to a gravel extraction quarry at Mawbeg, Eniskeane. The site includes an area where it is believed that a temporary military camp dating from 1798 was located (CO109-98). The geophysical survey identified a number of anomalies, which were then investigated as part of a focused testing programme.

Of all ten anomalies identified by the geophysical survey, no feature of demonstrable archaeological significance was identified. Four linear features were all revealed to be shallow ditches cut into the subsoil to c. 0.3m (c. 0.6–0.9m below the pasture surface). The features varied between 1.7m and 2.4m in width and were filled with darker brown gravelly silt, suggesting that they were field boundary ditches. No dating evidence for these ditches was obtained, but the features appear to pre-date the 18th century and therefore may be remnants of a medieval field system. ‘Anomaly 4’ may be the remains of a similar ditch, but evidence for this was difficult to identify in the ground. Part of ‘Anomaly 5’ (western end) was apparent as an area of extensive burning, probably relating to field clearance, while all the other identifiable anomalies (Anomalies 3, 7, 9 and 10) were all due to the specific occurrence of gravel or clay running close to the surface within an otherwise largely consistent soil profile.

Not a single artefact was identified in any of the test trenches. No features to suggest the location of an 18th-century military encampment were identified, and no military paraphernalia were found. The geophysical survey indicated an area where ferrous metals may be responsible for the anomaly (Anomaly 3) but none were found at that point.

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