2018:655 - DUNDALK: Marshes Upper, Louth

The site lies in a relatively level field and is surrounded by industrial units in an area south of Dundalk town. An area of c. 445 sq. m was mechanically stripped of topsoil centred on features identified during testing under licence 17E0364. Topsoil was quite uniform, 0.2–0.3m in depth across the area, subsoil was principally orange-yellow sandy clay with frequent small angular stones and shale outcrops. A series of pits/post-holes formed a semi-circular arc, c. 6.5m in diameter, while a second overlapping arc of c. 4m in diameter was formed from a mixture of shallow and deep post-holes. These are likely to represent the remains of post-built structures. Several of the fills contained frequent charcoal inclusions with some heat-affected stone though no animal bone or archaeological artifacts were identified during the excavation. The two potential arcs of features may even represent unassociated and non-contemporary structures and have a coincidental proximity. Ash (fraxinus) charcoal from the basal fill of one of the pits returned a date of 1210–1000 cal. BC 2ẟ (D-AMS 027563; 2896 +/- 29 BP).