2017:626 - DONACARNEY LITTLE, Meath

The testing consisted of the excavation, by machine, 12 test trenches in the area of Phase A; all ran roughly north-south, and were spaced some 10m apart; all were some 80m in length, apart from the easternmost which was 50m in length. In addition Phase D, located to the south of the Phase A area, was also tested. This took the form of a further 6 test trenches, again aligned roughly north-south and again spaced some 10m apart. In this case the trenches were some 50m in length. The testing took place in May 2017.

The plough soil in Phase A, a dark yellow brown, friable loose clay loam, was on average 0.45m deep and overlay the undisturbed relatively free-draining natural, generally a compact light yellow brown, stony glacial till. However, there was quite a variation noted across the trenches, ranging from a compact gravel to a loose silt sand. These variations, all of which were naturally occurring, appeared to conform to the layering which might be expected in a fluvio-glacial deposit. In a number of the trenches evidence for recent ploughing was noted running diagonally across the north-south line of the trench. No evidence for land drains was noted supporting the view that the land in the area is free-draining.

Nothing of archaeological interest was noted in any of the 12 trenches investigated.

The plough soil in the adjacent Phase D was on average 0.3m deep and consisted of a dark brown, firm, clay loam. It overlay a hard compact light yellow brown stony clay loam, a variation in the natural glacial till. The southern end of the field had been badly disturbed by the construction of a recent housing development. Nothing of archaeological interest was noted in any of the 6 trenches investigated.

Testing revealed that the area of Phase A was ploughed in the relatively recent past, with evidence of ploughing visible at the base of a number of the trenches. No such evidence was noted in the area of Phase D and it is probable that this area had been under pasture for a considerable time. In both areas the underlying natural was a variation in glacial till, with the subsoil in Phase A exhibiting a considerable variation, all naturally occurring.