County: Wexford Site name: Arnestown 4
Sites and Monuments Record No.: n/a Licence number: E004783
Author: Yvonne Whitty, IAC
Site type: Burnt mound
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 674293m, N 625999m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.380499, -6.908754
The site was identified as a result of archaeological monitoring during the construction phase of the N25 New Ross Bypass PPP Scheme in October 2016 (Registration No. E004661). Monitoring followed from a series of previous investigations across the scheme and was specified for 13 previously untested areas (UTA).
Arnestown 4 was identified as a truncated spread of burnt mound material in UTA-18. The burnt mound is located in the corner of a reclaimed pasture field north of a stream. The area is shown on the historic OS maps as bordering a stream comprising marshy marginal terrain. Three prehistoric burnt mound sites were excavated at Arnestown 2 (E004111, WX034-098001–3) 210–370m south-west of the site during Stage (iii) Excavations. A small spread of redeposited burnt stone was also excavated to the immediate south-west of Arnestown 4 at Arnestown 3 (E004129, WX034-099).
The earliest features identified at Arnestown 4 comprised two pits and a curvilinear gully, which were sealed by a thin spread of burnt material derived from a heavily truncated burnt mound. The pits and gullies were cut into a subsoil deposit which may have filled a former palaeochannel. A thin silt layer was recorded sealing the burnt mound spread and three modern linear drains extended through the site.
Post-excavation analyses are ongoing although it is intended to date two elements from the excavation. No artefacts were recovered during the excavation at Arnestown 4.
IAC Ltd, Unit G1, Network Enterprise Park, Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow
