County: Dublin Site name: Milverton, Skerries
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 10E0111
Author: John Kavanagh (Icon Archaeology Ltd)
Site type: Ring-barrow/fulacht fiadh/urn burial
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 725160m, N 759340m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.569010, -6.110387
An excavation was carried out on a development site located in the townland of Milverton, Skerries, County Dublin. The proposed development consisted of a 16ha housing estate on a green-field site which overlooked a stream running along the southern boundary. An archaeological assessment and geo-physical testing found no evidence of significant archaeological remains. During the course of monitoring in the summer of 2015, a range of features were uncovered. The principle site was a ring barrow located on the gently sloping ground overlooking the stream below. The overall external dimensions were 9.12m east-west by 8.05m. The enclosing ditch had a U-shaped profile 1.5-1.8m wide and a maximum depth of 1.38m. The site had no entrance, bank or mound. The internal area contained no burials but crushed pot fragments and burnt bone mixed with cairn or cist-like material was deposited in one side of the ditch and scattered pot fragments and burnt bone in the other. Adjacent to the ring barrow were: one inverted urn burial in a pit, three pits containing burnt bone and charcoal, two pits containing just charcoal and a single pit with no inclusions. The absence of scorched clay around the base of the pits suggested that the bone was not cremated in situ. Four more pits were found 15m further north. A single example showed clear signs of in situ burning but contained no burnt bone. The remaining pits contained charcoal-flecked silty clays. A further four pits were found along the northern perimeter of the site. All contained clear evidence of in-situ burning. A fifth isolated pit also contained evidence of in-situ burning and was associated with several stake-holes.
The remains of a possible fulacht fiadh characterised by a spread of charcoal and heat-cracked stones (5.6m east-west by 5.2m) was found adjacent to the stream further to the south. This feature will be investigated as part of Phase 2 in 2016. The preliminary conclusions therefore are that these remains form part of a well-preserved Bronze Age landscape characterised by a domestic site down by the stream, overlooked by a central burial site surrounded by cremation pits and other secondary deposits of a ritual or funerary nature. A Middle to Late Bronze Age date is considered probable at this stage.
Tullow Road, Carlow Town, County Carlow
