County: Westmeath Site name: Crosserdree 2
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 18E0604
Author: Ian Russell
Site type: Stake-holes, deposits and pit
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 654056m, N 758665m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.575085, -7.183804
Archaeological excavation at Crosserdree 2 was carried out in advance of the proposed N52 Cloghan to Billistown Phase 2 – Turin to Billistown Realignment, Co. Westmeath. The site was identified during Stage(i) archaeological testing of the proposed N52 Turin to Billistown Realignment carried out by Archaeological Management Solutions(AMS) and Archaeological Consultancy Services Unit (ACSU) on behalf of Westmeath County Council between 16 and 31 July 2018 under Excavation Licence No. 18E0375.
As part of the Stage (ii) pre-excavation services from 18 to 24 September 2018, an area measuring 520m² centred on these features was stripped of topsoil by mechanical excavator, cleaned by a team of archaeologists and planned. Excavation was then carried out by Ian Russell between 8 and 10 October 2018 under Licence No. 18E0604. A total of six stake-holes (C108, C109, C115, C120, C123 & C127), two deposits (C54 & C122) and one pit (C118) were identified. The pit and stake-holes had no discernible pattern but were concentrated in an area measuring c.7m east–west by 4m. To the north and north-east, deposits C54 and C112 were over 7m apart and appeared to have filled natural depressions. Charcoal was identified from four stake-holes (C108, C109, C120 & C123), one deposit (C54) and the pit.
Ash was the most frequent taxa, with lower amounts of hazel also noted in all, while other taxa present across the site comprised alder, pomaceous fruitwood and Prunus (cherry/blackthorn). One fragment of a cereal grain, indeterminate species, was also identified from the fill of stake-hole C108. Two charcoal samples (species identifications by Dr. Lorna O’Donnell) recovered during the Stage (iii) excavation were sent for radiocarbon dating. Hazel charcoal(0.1g) from Sample 6 (C117, fill of stake-hole C108) returned a date of 3375 ± 30 BP giving a 2-sigma calibrated date range of 1747–1612BC (Poz-115307). Hazel charcoal (0.13g) from Sample 12 (C54) returned an identical date of 3375 ± 30 BP giving a 2-sigma calibrated date range of 1747–1612 BC (Poz-115309). These suggest that the site at Crosserdree 2 dates to the Early Bronze Age.
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