2018:670 - Dolanstown, Co. Meath, Meath

A 20m x 20m area in the vicinity of a former mill race was uncovered during monitoring of a flood relief scheme under licence 18E0296. Four possible pits (2m x 1.5m, 2m x 1.5m, 2.5m x 1.5m and 3m x 2m) in an area containing heat-affected stone and a drain/linear feature 15m long by roughly 20cm x 20cm was initially identified. The north-west of the site was disturbed by a drainage ditch approx. 3m wide. Upon investigation it was established that none of the concentrations of heat-affected stone were deposited in cuts but diffusely spread within a peaty matrix. The heat-effected stone concentrations were irregularly delimited with long zones of transition and no identifiable charcoal, the natural peaty deposit giving an impression of charcoal staining. The areas of heat-affected stone concentrations were half-sectioned. However, no evidence for coherent deposits or cuts was identified and so the cuttings for half-sections were expanded to further investigate the deposits. Shallow dips in the exposed subsoil below the deposits of heat-affected stone were interpreted as the remains of plough or cultivation furrows, further illustrating the disturbed nature of the surviving archaeological deposits.The diffuse nature of the deposits with no discernible cuts or coherent concentrations indicated ex-situ material, possibly deposited as a result of the construction of the adjacent mill-race or earlier dredging works of the Rye Water River.

Archer Heritage Planning, 8 Beat Centre, Stephenstown, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin.