2012:190 - Cadbury’s Factory, Old Malahide Road, Coolock, Dublin

Barrow site DU015-074, recognised as a tree-covered grass mound, is located on the lawn at the north-eastern end of the factory grounds. During the course of improvement works on the factory site, a temporary car park was created by stripping topsoil from an area located c. 3-4m to the west of the mound. This temporary car park was exempt from planning. The National Monuments Service was not given advance notice of the works and there was no archaeologist present to monitor topsoil stripping.

When the National Monuments Service became aware of the situation, they requested an assessment in order to determine whether the works had impacted on archaeological remains. Two test trenches were excavated in the area that had been stripped of topsoil and the stockpiled soil removed from the area was inspected. The area available for test excavation was limited somewhat because the car park was still in use.  The trenches were mechanically excavated to the base of the hardcore that had been laid down to form the car park and all further excavation was then carried out by hand.

Testing established that the car park area had been stripped to subsoil. Trench 1 was located 4.5m from the base of the mound and measured 26m (north-south) by 1.6m. Two ditches were recorded, one at either end of the trench.  The southern ditch [003] was orientated north-west/south-east and was traced for a length of c. 9m. It was 1.3m wide and a section excavated into the ditch established that it was 0.45m deep, with steeply sloping sides and a concave base. The fill was orange brown clay and a sherd of coarse ware pottery was recovered from it. Another ditch was located 6.7m further north and was orientated north-east/south-west.  It was 2.4m wide and 0.6m deep. The lower fill was grey clay with regular snail shells. The upper fill [006] was friable orange clay that contained occasional stones and fragments of animal bone (identified as deer antler, cattle femur and humerus). There were no finds to indicate the date of this feature but the bone was in relatively good condition. The presence of snail shell indicates that this was once an open feature, possibly a boundary ditch that also had a drainage function.

Trench 2 was perpendicular to and west of Trench 1. It measured 6.5m by 1.6m. A north-east/south-west orientated ditch was revealed at the eastern end of the trench, immediately west of the junction with Trench 1. This was 1.3m wide by 0.5m deep. The lower fill was grey/brown clay with stone at the base and snail shell throughout. The upper fill was orange/brown clay that was similar to the upper fill of ditch [006] and the fill of ditch [003]. A piece of struck flint was recovered from this deposit.

The finds recovered from two of the ditches indicate a prehistoric, probably Bronze Age date for these features. The proximity of these the ditches to the mound strongly indicates that they are broadly contemporary and a Bronze Age date is likely for the Recorded Monument.

The discovery of these three features demonstrates the potential for further subsoil-cut features to remain below the hardcore outside the area in which the test trenches were located.

Analysis of the soil stock-piled on site established that it was almost entirely comprised of topsoil with just patches of sand and yellow subsoil-like clay.

Some months after the test excavations, a lawn was reinstated over the temporary car park by placing the stockpiled soil over the hard core surface. These works were monitored in order to facilitate a thorough inspection of the soil originally stripped from the site. Fragments of clay pipe, mortar, seashell (cockle and mussel), snail shell, a few pieces of animal bone (some of which were burnt), sherds of post-medieval ceramic, and bottle glass were recorded. All of the artefacts recovered during monitoring date from the 18th-19^th century.

Barrow site DU015-074, recognised as a tree-covered grass mound, is located on the lawn at the north-eastern end of the factory grounds. During the course of improvement works on the factory site, a temporary car park was created by stripping topsoil from an area located c. 3-4m to the west of the mound. This temporary car park was exempt from planning. The National Monuments Service was not given advance notice of the works and there was no archaeologist present to monitor topsoil stripping.

When the National Monuments Service became aware of the situation, they requested an assessment in order to determine whether the works had impacted on archaeological remains. Two test trenches were excavated in the area that had been stripped of topsoil and the stockpiled soil removed from the area was inspected. The area available for test excavation was limited somewhat because the car park was still in use.  The trenches were mechanically excavated to the base of the hardcore that had been laid down to form the car park and all further excavation was then carried out by hand.

Testing established that the car park area had been stripped to subsoil. Trench 1 was located 4.5m from the base of the mound and measured 26m (north-south) by 1.6m. Two ditches were recorded, one at either end of the trench.  The southern ditch [003] was orientated north-west/south-east and was traced for a length of c. 9m. It was 1.3m wide and a section excavated into the ditch established that it was 0.45m deep, with steeply sloping sides and a concave base. The fill was orange brown clay and a sherd of coarse ware pottery was recovered from it. Another ditch was located 6.7m further north and was orientated north-east/south-west.  It was 2.4m wide and 0.6m deep. The lower fill was grey clay with regular snail shells. The upper fill [006] was friable orange clay that contained occasional stones and fragments of animal bone (identified as deer antler, cattle femur and humerus). There were no finds to indicate the date of this feature but the bone was in relatively good condition. The presence of snail shell indicates that this was once an open feature, possibly a boundary ditch that also had a drainage function.

Trench 2 was perpendicular to and west of Trench 1. It measured 6.5m by 1.6m. A north-east/south-west orientated ditch was revealed at the eastern end of the trench, immediately west of the junction with Trench 1. This was 1.3m wide by 0.5m deep. The lower fill was grey/brown clay with stone at the base and snail shell throughout. The upper fill was orange/brown clay that was similar to the upper fill of ditch [006] and the fill of ditch [003]. A piece of struck flint was recovered from this deposit.

The finds recovered from two of the ditches indicate a prehistoric, probably Bronze Age date for these features. The proximity of these the ditches to the mound strongly indicates that they are broadly contemporary and a Bronze Age date is likely for the Recorded Monument.

The discovery of these three features demonstrates the potential for further subsoil-cut features to remain below the hardcore outside the area in which the test trenches were located.

Analysis of the soil stock-piled on site established that it was almost entirely comprised of topsoil with just patches of sand and yellow subsoil-like clay.

Some months after the test excavations, a lawn was reinstated over the temporary car park by placing the stockpiled soil over the hard core surface. These works were monitored in order to facilitate a thorough inspection of the soil originally stripped from the site. Fragments of clay pipe, mortar, seashell (cockle and mussel), snail shell, a few pieces of animal bone (some of which were burnt), sherds of post-medieval ceramic, and bottle glass were recorded. All of the artefacts recovered during monitoring date from the 18th-19^th century.

Archaeological Development Services Ltd, Unit 4, The Print House, South Cumberland St, Dublin 2