2011:640 - KILTEGAN, Wicklow

The ring-ditch at Kiltegan was revealed during topsoil-stripping associated with the testing of a ridge for potential sand extraction. The site was reported to the National Monuments Service early in 2011.

The site consists of a previously unrecorded ring-ditch at the summit of an elevated sandy ridge on the northern side of the Douglas River, which forms the county boundary with Carlow. The site itself does not overlook the Douglas River, and is separated from it by a raised area of the same ridge. If such sites were placed overlooking boundaries such as the Douglas River, perhaps the ring-ditch described here is on the edge of a complex of similar ring-ditch or ring-barrow monuments which may have directly overlooked the river. There are also fine views to the north of Keadeen and Carrig mountains.

The features that survived were relatively shallow, suggesting that a significant amount of truncation had taken place. Upon investigation and cleaning back of the thin layers of sand that partially masked the site, it was clear that the enclosing ditch survived well along the south and the north. It appears that the ditch had been excavated away along the east when the site was initially exposed by the machine works. At the west it appeared that the ground was dipping away slightly and that the ditch was still preserved beneath a layer of sand. It was decided not to investigate or disturb this area any further.

The ditch survived along the north (from north-north-west to east-north-east); while this section was not investigated further, it appears to have been severely truncated by the machine works that originally exposed the site. At the north-east a fragment of a blue glass bead was found lying on the surface of the ditch fill. Cleaning back of the surface in this area revealed no further finds. The bead is 6mm thick, and it is estimated that it was about 11mm in diameter and that the central perforation was about 5mm across. The break may be quite recent.

The best-preserved portion of the site is along the south (from east-south-east to west-south-west). Here the ditch measured 1.2m across. A 0.5m-wide section was excavated across the southernmost point of the ditch. The ditch was found to be just 0.25m deep and cut into the sand, with a broad, curving base. From the top the fill along the inside of the ditch appeared as a dark brown sandy soil with some gravel or small pebbles, and with charcoal and burnt bone. The soil along the outer edge of the ditch here appeared to be a lighter brown sandy soil, with less gravel and only occasional charcoal. While this appeared to be reasonably clear from the top surface, there was no clearly defined differentiation in the fills in the section of the ditch.

The ditch enclosed an area measuring 10.6m north–south, and it is not clear whether there was formerly a central mound. At the centre of the ring-ditch was a small pit, F2, which measured 0.4m x 0.5m across. The central position of this pit certainly suggested the possibility that it may have represented a primary cremation burial pit. It was half-sectioned and found to be just 0.1m deep with a rounded base. The fill consisted of a dark brown sandy soil, but there was no charcoal or cremated bone. While it is possible that this represents the base of a severely truncated cremation pit burial, the lack of any charcoal in the fill suggests that it must have served some other purpose.

A possible stone pendant was found on the surface some 0.8m to the south-east of the pit. The shale stone measures 40mm long, 28mm wide (max.) and 3mm thick. It appears to be roughly shaped, with pointed ends and straight sides. There is a D-shaped perforation (9mm x 6mm across). The stone is quite polished, but there no significant wear pattern around the perforation.

There appeared to be the remains of further archaeological features beneath a sand layer under the central pit F2. These could not be investigated without the removal of a substantial amount of sand, so it was decided to leave this area undisturbed. It is possible, therefore, that there are further archaeological remains at the site that may relate to the primary phase of the ring-ditch or perhaps to activity on the ridge-top that pre-dates the ring-ditch here.

No. 640. Kiltegan: general view of ring-ditch.

No. 640. Kiltegan: site plan.

No. 640. Kiltegan: possible stone pendant.

No. 640. Kiltegan: blue glass bead.

National Monuments Service, Dept of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Custom House, Dublin 1