2011:289 - BALLINORIG WEST 2, Kerry

Excavations at Ballinorig West 2 were undertaken on behalf of Kerry County Council as part of Stage (iii) of the Archaeological Services Contract prior to the commencement of construction of the N22 Tralee Bypass/Tralee to Bealagrellagh, which extends from Lissatanvally townland to Flemby townland.
Excavation revealed two enclosing ditches, a sink-hole/pit complex, recut ditches, pits, utilised sink-holes and stake-holes. Post-medieval agricultural drainage ditches, land drains, spreads, linear plough furrows and stone surfaces were also recorded.

Phase I
A sink-hole complex consisting of three cuts was identified in the south-eastern quadrant of the enclosure interior but may pre-date the enclosure. The earliest feature consisted of a large sink-hole, which was subcircular in plan, was aligned north-east/south-west and had a U-shaped profile. This first sink-hole exceeded 2.8m in depth and had twelve fills. One of these was radiocarbon-dated to the Early Bronze Age (1890–1692 cal. BC (2σ); SUERC-37239). A sherd of prehistoric pottery was recovered from the basal fill.
Additional activity in the form of two contemporary sink-holes constituted the second event in this area. The first of these sink-holes measured 1m in depth (true length and width could not be ascertained) and contained four fills; one of the fills contained many pieces of charcoal and was radiocarbon-dated to the Middle Bronze Age (1424–1261 cal. BC (2σ); SUERC-37241). Both sink-holes contained a substantial amount of Bronze Age pottery. The second sink-hole was identified at the south-western corner of the sink-hole complex. It had an elongated irregular shape in plan, was aligned north-east/south-west, had a U-shaped profile and measured 1.75m in depth. It had twelve separate fills.
An additional four pits and a possible stake-hole from this phase were identified within the internal area of the inner enclosing ditch.
Two pits were recorded outside the ditches to the north of the site.
The western area of the site was characterised by six pits, one spread and ten stake-holes. One pit was radiocarbon-dated to the Late Bronze Age (1257–999 cal. BC (2σ); SUERC-37240). It measured 1.7m in length by 1.4m in width by 0.47m in depth and had five fills. Ten stake-holes were noted at the base of the pit.

Phase II
The inner enclosing ditch (003) located centrally within Area A was curvilinear in plan with a U-shaped profile. It measured in excess of 80m in length by 3.1m in width by 1.9m in depth and had 37 fills. One of the upper fills on the western side of the ditch contained charcoal, which produced a radiocarbon date from the early medieval period (cal. AD 655–779 (2σ); SUERC-37238). An upper fill from the southern region of the ditch contained four sherds of prehistoric pottery, although they are likely to be residual.
The outer enclosing ditch located within Area A encompassed the inner enclosing ditch. It was curvilinear in plan, with a wide V-shaped profile. The combined measurement of the exposed sections was in excess of 76m in length by 3.85m in maximum width by 1.7m in depth. It had 70 separate and distinct fills.

Phase III
The recut of the inner enclosing ditch was penannular in shape, with a possible entrance, 1.2m wide, at the most southerly point of the enclosure. Curvilinear in plan and cut into redeposited backfill, it had a concave profile. It measured in excess of 80m in length by 3.1m in width and had twelve fills. A fill from the western side of the ditch contained occasional charcoal flecks, which produced an early medieval radiocarbon date (cal. AD 893–1019 (2σ); SUERC-37242).
A large pit represents the third event or sequence of activity in the sink-hole complex. It was subcircular in plan, was aligned north–south and had a concave profile. It measured 5.3m in length by 3.4m in width by 1.24m in depth. It had twelve separate fills.
The fourth event in the sink-hole/pit complex is represented by a sink-hole which was circular in plan and had a U-shaped profile. It measured 1.35m in diameter and 1.8m in depth. It had six fills.
The fifth event in the sink-hole/pit complex was characterised by a sink-hole which was circular in plan with a U-shaped profile; it measured 0.7m in diameter by 1.5m in depth.

Phase IV
Phase IV was characterised by two groupings of four intercutting sink-holes/possible pits. The first sink-hole truncated the eastern edge of the inner enclosure ditch and was located 5m north-east of the aforementioned sink-hole complex. It was circular in plan with a concave profile. It measured approximately 4m in length by 3.8m in diameter and in excess of 1.44m in depth.
A pit was cut into the northern side of the first sink-hole. Roughly circular in plan, it had a concave profile. It measured 4m in length by 3.7m in width by 1.6m in depth. It had nine separate fills.
The second sink-hole was located 1m to the north of the pit/sink-hole complex. It truncated the eastern limit of the inner enclosing ditch and the recut ditch. It was circular in plan with a concave profile. It measured approximately 1m in width by 1.1m in depth and was filled by a series of siltation deposits and unstable material that had collapsed from the sides.
A third sink-hole was identified in the northern section of the site, truncating the eastern side of the second sink-hole. It was subcircular in plan with a concave profile and measured 3m in length by 2.5m in width by 0.8m in depth. It had fourteen fills.

Phase V
This phase was characterised by two recuts identified within the upper and middle fills of the outer enclosing ditch. The first recut ditch was located in the northern section of Area A, cutting the north-eastern limit of the Phase I outer enclosing ditch and the upper fill of Phase III’s third sink-hole. It had one fill, 1.15m in depth.
The second recut ditch was located in the southern side of the outer ditch. It was linear in plan, running north-east/south-west, and had a concave V-shaped profile. It measured approximately 10m in length by 3m in width by 1.3m in depth and had six distinct fills.

Phase VI
Phase VI represents the post-medieval activity identified on the site and was characterised by agricultural drainage ditches, land drains, two deposits, two spreads, linear plough furrows, three stone surfaces and a sink-hole.

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