2011:497 - ROSSNAREE, Meath

This is an account of the second season of excavation at the site. The site was first discovered as a dense scatter of lithic (chipped stone) material on the surface of a tilled field close to the River Boyne, at the western end of the ‘Bend of the Boyne’ in the Brú na Bóinne World Heritage Site. The scatter was subsequently investigated using a range of geophysical techniques funded by the Heritage Council, during which time the remains of a substantial multivallate enclosure were identified. This enclosure was reported to the Archaeological Survey of Ireland and an RMP number was subsequently issued (ME019-080).
The aim of the 2010 excavations was to date the archaeological remains and explore the nature of the activity on the site (Excavations 2010, no. 538). Artefactual material recovered indicated that the enclosure was likely to date from the late first millennium AD. The 2011 season was undertaken to try to identify possible prehistoric features to provide a context for the lithic scatter.
Further geophysical survey was conducted at the site after the excavation in August 2010. This included magnetic gradiometry, earth resistance, magnetic susceptibility and electrical resistance tomography. These surveys were carried out at higher resolutions than previous surveys of the site and identified a number of areas of potential, referred to as Areas 1 and 2. These were in the area where lithic densities were found to be highest during the initial surface collection survey, and they also appeared to be the areas with most potential for uncovering prehistoric remains.
Area 1 was where the innermost of the four concentric enclosures appeared in the geophysics to be cut by a smaller oval enclosure. Cutting 6 was positioned over this intersection to explore the relationship between the two features. Area 2 was positioned within the area of the innermost enclosure, at the highest point in the complex, over an area characterised by a series of point anomalies in the geophysics. Cuttings 7 and 8 were located in this area to investigate these features. Immediately prior to the commencement of the excavation, further, more detailed geophysical survey was carried out to fine-tune the positioning of the trenches and to provide further detailed information on the nature of the features that would be encountered
No. 497. Rossnaree: magnetic gradiometry plot with areas of investigation indicated.

Cutting 6
This measured 10m north–south by 3m and was positioned over an intersection between the innermost D-shaped enclosure cordoning off the area of high ground and the discrete oval enclosure. The cutting was located on the western slope of a low topographic knoll which stands c. 2m higher than the surrounding field surface and was the focus for both the lithic scatter and the multivallate enclosure.
The ploughsoil was found to have a depth of c. 0.25–0.4m. Beneath this a truncated surface was revealed in which several distinct contexts were visible, including the lines of and material filling each of the ditches previously identified in the geophysics.
The main feature running north–south through the entire length of the cutting was the line and fills of the D-shaped enclosure. Contexts were characterised by charcoal flecking, a darker or greyer colour than the surrounding natural, and the presence of animal bone fragments. The other main feature visible was the curvilinear line of the oval enclosure.
Owing to time constraints it was not possible to completely excavate all of the features in this cutting. Instead, three sondage trenches were excavated—two across the line of the north–south ditch (one at the northern end and the other at the southern end of the cutting) and a third across the line of the oval enclosure at the eastern side of the cutting. Each of these sondage trenches allowed the recording of the stratigraphy and morphology of the ditches at each location. Metal artefacts and fragments were recovered from each of the main features, indicating a probable early medieval date.

Cutting 7
This measured 5m east–west by 4m and was located on the summit of the low knoll to investigate the interior of the inner D-shaped enclosure and a series of geophysical anomalies.
The ploughsoil was c. 0.3–0.35m deep. All ploughsoil was passed through a 5mm-mesh riddle and frequent lithic artefacts were recovered, along with fragments of human bone. Below this the ploughsoil horizon gave way to C.703, a hard compact layer with frequent large cobbles which, because of the very dry weather conditions prevailing for much of the period of the excavation, was initially taken to be undisturbed natural. This represents an interface layer between the ploughsoil and intact subsoil/truncated archaeological features and appears to have been disturbed only occasionally during particularly deep ploughing events. The depth from the surface to the base of this context was c. 0.5m.
A number of features were identified at the northern end of the cutting, among which was a small, shallow kiln/furnace feature (C.723). Also excavated in this cutting were two inhumation burials. Burial 1 (C.720) was an extended inhumation lying west-north-west/east-south-east, with the head at the western end of the grave-cut. The skeletal remains were very disturbed, with only portions of the right side of the skeleton in situ, having been heavily truncated by east–west ploughing activity. Burial 2 (C.731), another extended inhumation, was located c. 1m to the south; it lay west-south-west/east-north-east, with the head at the western end of the grave-cut. The grave had been dug deeper than that of Burial 1 and the skeleton was largely intact, with only minor damage from ploughing. The skeleton was that of a female in her mid- to late twenties (Laureen Buckley, pers. comm.). The cut of a third grave (C.729) was found c. 1m to the north of Burial 1 but, owing to time constraints, this was not excavated.

Cutting 8
This was located immediately to the south of Cutting 7 to investigate further geophysical anomalies within the area of the innermost enclosure. It measured 6m north–south by 2m. The ploughsoil was c. 0.3–0.35m deep above an interface layer (C.803) which was c. 0.1m thick. Flint finds and some small fragments of human bone were recovered from sieving.
Below these contexts, a number of features and fills were identified. C.804 and C.805 were linear gully-like features at the western end of the cutting. They measured c. 0.05–0.1m wide and c. 0.05m deep, were aligned north–south and seem to represent an episode of particularly deep ploughing. No finds were recovered from the fills.
Other features were also identified during excavation of this cutting (C.806 and C.807). Because of the frequency of occurrence of bone remains in the ploughsoil, and also because of the presence of two pieces of human bone from the surfaces of these deposits, it was likely that these contexts represented a further grave-cut. Owing to time constraints it was not possible to excavate these features.

Conclusion
On the basis of the artefactual evidence, the major features uncovered during the 2011 season, like those investigated during 2010, appear to be early medieval in date. It is expected that radiocarbon dating of material recovered from the bases of the ditches will support this preliminary dating. The 2011 excavations have revealed further information on the early medieval activity at Rossnaree, with the identification of a settlement area with associated burial. Despite the very frequent recovery of lithic artefacts and the cuttings being located close to the densest part of the lithic scatter, no features were recognised as being prehistoric. It seems that the nature of the initial prehistoric activity did not involve significant cut features which might have survived below the level of deepest plough disturbance, if such features ever existed. Nevertheless, given the extensive size of the site, it is entirely possible that prehistoric features remain outside the areas of the cuttings. The geophysical surveys, carried out by Kevin Barton of Landscape and Geophysical Services, and the funding support provided by the National Monuments Section, Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, on the recommendation of the National Committee for Archaeology of the Royal Irish Academy are gratefully acknowledged.

Department of Humanities, Dundalk Institute of Technology, Dundalk, Co. Louth