County: Meath Site name: Faughan Hill
Sites and Monuments Record No.: ME024-022001─6 Licence number: 16E0275
Author: Ger Dowling
Site type: Archaeological coring (multi-period complex)
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 679280m, N 769377m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.668131, -6.800283
A total of 16 soil cores were extracted for geochemical analysis from various locations on Faughan Hill, near the village of Bohermeen, Co. Meath. Previous geophysical survey had revealed the hill to be the site of a major archaeological complex (see Dowling 2015) and priority targets for the present work included the ditches of two massive hilltop enclosures and some of the smaller enclosures and ring-ditches on the summit. A transect of soil samples (Cores 13─16) were also extracted across the line of the outer boundary of the largest enclosure in order to obtain information on the depth and composition of archaeological layers, and to estimate the impact of erosion and potential disturbance of archaeological strata. The investigations were undertaken as part of collaborative research by the Discovery Programme, the Römisch-Germanische Kommission (Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Frankfurt am Main) and the Department of Archaeology, School of Geography and Archaeology, NUI Galway. Analysis of the cores is ongoing and the results will be published as part of the Discovery Programme's 'Tara Research Project' in due course.
Dowling, G. 2015. Exploring the hidden depths of Tara’s hinterland: geophysical survey and landscape investigations in the Meath–North Dublin region, eastern Ireland. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 81, 61–85.
The Discovery Programme, 63 Merrion Square, Dublin 2
