County: Dublin Site name: The Aske, Bray
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 19E0711
Author: Steven McGlade
Site type: Testing
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 725464m, N 720155m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.216979, -6.121368
Testing was carried out at The Aske, Co. Dublin in November 2019. A burial mound (DU026-067), known as Toole’s Moat, was located in the adjacent field, c. 120m from the site boundary. The site was reported on in the 19th century when bones were discovered when quarrying the mound. Burials and artefacts were retrieved from the mound suggestive of at least two phases of use. Casting moulds for bronze spears or swords and Bronze Age pottery were retrieved along with artefacts suggestive of later activity in the early medieval period, such as a stone gaming board and fragments of lignite bracelet. A later archaeological investigation in advance of the construction of the M11 (Keeley, 1989:027) found that no archaeology survived by that time. The mound had been quarried throughout the 19th and 20th centuries up until the 1970s.
There was no indication that the burials from this site extended into the proposed development site, however a number of features were uncovered during the testing that may be indicative of prehistoric human occupation.
Thirteen trenches were opened across the proposed development, which revealed two large depressions within an 80m by 120m area in the western field. These depressions were up 1.4m deep, filled with topsoil-like silty clay and are likely to represent landscaping. Potential archaeology was found at the base of one of the depressions in the form of scorching associated with a layer of charcoal.
Three ditches running east to west were found east of these depressions under 0.6m of topsoil. They were confined to the middle of the western field.
A large post-pit or linear feature was found in the northern field and potential archaeology with crude prehistoric pottery was found within a pit under the telecoms line in the eastern field. Other shallow cuts were identified in the vicinity of the pit containing the Bronze Age pottery.
Other features encountered represented agricultural field boundaries and drainage.
Archaeological monitoring has been recommended followed by excavation of the features encountered.
Archaeology Plan, 32 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin 2
