2018:480 - Limekilnhill, Meath

A geophysical survey and a preliminary phase of test trenching was carried out as part of a pre-planning assessment of a proposed housing development within tillage farmland to the south of Navan town. There are no recorded archaeological sites within the site or within 260m of its boundary. The geophysical survey was carried out by J.M. Leigh Surveys (18R0084) and identified two enclosures located 50m apart with a number of potential conjoined annexes and external features.
The northern enclosure measured 45m x 68m and comprised a slightly curving, sub-rectilinear enclosure ditch with a possible entrance in the west side. A cluster of internal responses are indicative of habitation activity. Annexes to the enclosure are evident to the east and south and fragmented rectilinear responses to the north may represent a small associated field system.
The southern enclosure measured 48m x 56m and is similar in layout to the northern example although it appears to have been subject to more intensive plough disturbance. While interpretation remains conjectural it is noted that the layouts of both enclosures are similar to excavated sub-circular and sub-rectangular enclosures which have been dated to the early medieval period (e.g. Corlett & Potterton 2011).

There are no visible surface traces of the enclosures and the interiors of both have been truncated by a single field boundary. The crops within the fields had been cut prior to site investigations and systematic field walking of both enclosures and their environs was undertaken in advance of test trenching. Two sherds of potential imported early medieval pottery were identified on the ploughsoil surface within the northern example.

The preliminary phase of test trenching was undertaken in order to examine the outer extent of the enclosures and the potential external features within their environs. No excavation of identified archaeological features or deposits was undertaken as part of these preliminary investigations. A licence for the use of a metal-detector to assist in artefact retrieval was also obtained (18R0171). The ploughsoil in all areas comprised a homogenous dark silty clay loam (average 0.2m deep) containing occasional inclusions of 18th-20th-century material, perhaps introduced with farmyard manure. The upper ploughsoil overlay an interface layer of disturbed subsoil which formed the base of the ploughzone. The underlying natural subsoil was composed of a yellow-brown silty clay and its surface contained extensive plough scarring.

Northern enclosure
The excavation of two trenches extending outwards from the inner edge of the enclosure ditch at north and east indicate that it may measure up to 4m in width, although the potential that this may encompass a later re-cut was noted during manual cleaning. Slight traces of the base of an inner bank, comprising a barely perceptible 0.1m high band of redeposited subsoil of indeterminate width, were noted on the north side of the enclosure. No trace of a bank was noted in the trench on the east side and the geophysical survey indicates that this area had been subject to increased plough disturbance. Manual cleaning of the exposed surfaces of the uppermost ditch fill revealed early modern inclusions which demonstrated the extent of plough disturbance. The geophysical survey shows two conjoined, semi-circular annex-type features outside the southern end of the enclosure ditch. The termini of the annex features respect one another and the line of the enclosure ditch, suggesting that they may be contemporary. They appear to contain few internal features perhaps indicating a stockade function. Testing on the west sides of both annexes revealed the upper fills of enclosing ditches which were formed by bands of barely perceptible re-deposited subsoil measuring 2-2.5m wide. Testing outside the east end of the enclosure did not reveal a potential rectangular annex identified by the geophysical survey although the intensive ploughing activity noted in this area may have obscured this feature.

Southern Enclosure
A trench excavated outwards from the inner edge of the north line of the enclosure ditch revealed an upper fill comprising a 1.2m-wide dark brown deposit with charcoal inclusions. This was narrower than the ditch around the northern enclosure and was also quite distinct from the mid-brown fills of three east-west orientated parallel ditch features (ranging 0.7–2m wide) noted within the trench as it continued through a potential northern annex or small field system identified in the geophysical survey.

External Features
Testing also revealed occasional pits and post-holes in the fields outside both enclosures. While a number of external linear features were also identified, no clear pattern was evident and the potential exists that some may originate from later agricultural activity. It is probable that a systematic, open area excavation would be required to establish the stratigraphic relationship of these linear features in order to define the extent of any field systems associated with the enclosures.

Reference
Corlett, C. & Potterton, M. (2011) Settlement in Early Medieval Ireland in the Light of Recent Archaeological Excavations. Wordwell. Dublin.

c/o John Cronin and Associates, Buncrana, Co. Donegal