County: Kildare Site name: Rathangan
Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number: 19E0534
Author: James Hession
Site type: Early medieval enclosure and cereal drying kiln
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 667247m, N 719967m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.225842, -6.992907
A programme of archaeological test trenching was undertaken at a proposed housing development site in Rathangan townland, Rathangan, Co. Kildare. A total of 14 test trenches were excavated across the proposed lands.
The test trenches identified the presence of a single ditched sub-circular enclosure, 40m north-west/south-east by 38m, with the ditch measuring 2.7m wide and 1.3m deep.
The general appearance of this feature is suggestive of a ringfort-type enclosure. No internal features were recorded, and no artefacts were retrieved during the investigation. To the north-west of this enclosure a corn-drying kiln and three pits were identified. These features are most likely associated with the sub-circular enclosure or the nearby RMP sites KD017–068 and KD017–01101 and as such are also likely to be early medieval in date.
Two linear features of uncertain date were identified to the north and north-east of the corn drying kiln and a shallow curvilinear ditch was identified along the northern perimeter of the site adjacent to KD017–068. No other features of significance were identified during the investigation.
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