County: Donegal Site name: Curraghalane 1 and 2
Sites and Monuments Record No.: DG070-082 Licence number: 20E0503 (and 20R0185)
Author: JAMES MCKEE
Site type: Early medieval enclosure and prehistoric settlement
Period/Dating: —
ITM: E 632261m, N 897210m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.821747, -7.498006
Stage (i)a Standard Test Excavations and Stage (i)h Metal Detection Surveys were undertaken in the townland of Curraghalane as part of the Archaeological Consultancy Services Contract of the TENT Priority Route Improvement Project in Donegal. The TEN-T Priority Route Improvement Project is part of the Trans-European Transport Network and comprises the construction of three sections of new road:
Section 1: N15/N13 Ballybofey/Stranorlar Urban Region; Section 2: N56/N30 Letterkenny to Manorcunningham; and Section 3: N14 Manorcunningham to Lifford/Strabane/A5 link. Curraghalane, in Section 3, is one of five Testing Areas (TAs) along the preferred route of the TEN-T project which require Stage (i)a Test Excavations and Stage (i)h Metal Detection Survey Services.
In total, 3,764m linear metres were test excavated at Curraghalane representing a >12% sample of the greenfield area available for test excavations. These excavations targeted anomalies identified through previous geophysical and LiDAR surveys at the site; these surveys were themselves undertaken to assess SMR site (DG070-082), one of five known monuments which could be impacted by the scheme.
During the Stage (i)a testing at Curraghalane, two sites of archaeological significance were found, namely Curraghalane 1 and Curraghalane 2.
Curraghalane 1 comprises a likely early medieval enclosure as well as a number of possible associated features, including one razed souterrain (DG072-082), as well as a second large pit, which could represent a second souterrain. The enclosure ditch was partially sectioned in three trenches and the dimensions were recorded as 2.5m wide and at least 1.1m deep in maximum extent. The possible souterrains’ extents were established in plan, but these features were not excavated. The first souterrain, consisting of grey sand mixed with large stones, is the fill of known souterrain DG070-
082 after the landowner backfilled it. The second pit-like feature is directly north-west of DG070-082 and is of unconfirmed function. A post-medieval/modern radiocarbon date was obtained for the upper fill of the putative early medieval enclosure.
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