2017:670 - Ballinahinch 2, Ashford, Wicklow

The site at Ballinahinch 2 was located on a south-facing slope, overlooking the Vartry River, within 5km of the Irish Sea coastline and was excavated in advance of residential development. It was discovered following a geophysical survey (licence no. 17R0073) and a test-excavation (licence no. 17E0195). Excavation, in an irregularly shaped cutting of maximum 23m x 21.5m, confirmed the presence of a hearth surrounded by five post-holes with two pits and a post-hole to the south-east. The two pits, C10 and C19, contained numerous sherds of Early Bronze Age pottery, including an almost complete vessel from the Vase tradition and some Beaker sherds. The hearth and post-holes indicate a structure, though the post-holes were only identified in a rough semi-circle to the south of the hearth, aligned in an imperfect arc with a radius between 4-4.5m. The post-hole dimensions ranged from 0.14-0.22m (average 0.18m) in width and 0.1-0.26m (average 0.2m) in depth. No clear cut was identified for the hearth but the central subsoil underlying the spread of material was oxidised an orange/red colour, i.e. heat-affected. A total of seven flint pieces was retrieved during the excavation comprising a convex end scraper, edge retouched flake, three platform flakes, and a bipolar flake convex end scraper from C11, the upper fill of pit C10 and a bipolar core from C20 the only fill of pit C19. A radiocarbon date of 1890-1690 cal. BC 2ẟ was returned from a piece of ash (fraxinus) charcoal retrieved from the hearth deposit.

8 Beat Centre, Stephenstown, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin.