County: Galway Site name: Mausrevagh
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 11E0321 ext.
Author: James Hession
Site type: Waste pits and deposits
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 529832m, N 742851m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.431087, -9.055895
Excavation was carried out at Mausrevagh 1 in advance of the N84 Luimnagh Realignment Road Scheme, the offline section of which extends from Mausrevagh townland to Ballinduff townland in Co. Galway. Stage (iii) Excavation Services were carried out under an extension to the testing licence (Excavations 2011, No. 271). The area of excavation measured 208m² and comprised two phases of activity; although it is possible this was confined to a few years around 1526-7 BC.
Phase I at Mausrevagh 1 dated to the Early to Middle Bronze Age (1734-1526 cal BC 2 sigma, SUERC-41048) and was represented by a waste pit. This was sub-circular in plan, measured 0.42m by 0.44m and 0.2m deep and contained two fills, which produced frequent charcoal flecks – including hazel, ash, pomaceous woods and cherry-type – unidentifiable animal bone fragments, as well as a small quantity of charred hulled barley and unidentifiable cereal grains. Based on the similarity of the recovered archaeobotanical assemblage, two further waste pits and a small deposit have been attributed to this phase of activity.
A sub-circular pit was located approximately 5m to the south-west and measured 0.5m in diameter and 0.3m in depth. Its sandy silt fill contained frequent charcoal flecks – identified as ash, alder, pomaceous wood and cherry-type – as well as rare amounts of unidentifiable charred cereal grain and unidentifiable animal bone fragments.
Located approximately 1m to the west was another pit measuring 0.58m by 0.49m by 0.35m deep. It contained a single fill of dark brown silty clay, with occasional charcoal flecks – identified as ash, alder and cherry-type – and small-sized stones.
A small deposit of mid to dark brown silty clay was also identified. It measured 0.3m in length, 0.2m in width and 0.09m in depth.
The second phase was represented by a Middle Bronze Age deposit (1527-1410 cal BC 2 sigma, SUERC-41049), located in the north-east corner of the site. This had accumulated within a natural hollow and measured 2.4m long by 1.4m wide by 0.15m deep. It was also suggestive of domestic waste, with rare inclusions of oak and willow charcoal, fragments of unburnt animal bone and angular and rounded stone.
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