County: Roscommon Site name: Cashel 1
Sites and Monuments Record No.: NA Licence number: E005125
Author: Patrick Walsh
Site type: Burnt spread
Period/Dating: Bronze Age (2200 BC-801 BC)
ITM: E 574667m, N 788900m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 53.848955, -8.384995
Cashel 1 was excavated in advance of construction of the N5 Ballaghaderreen to Scramoge Road Project in County Roscommon by Archaeological Management Solutions (AMS) for Roscommon County Council (RCC) and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII). The site consisted of a burnt spread which sealed a pit. It was identified during Stage (i)a Standard Test Excavations, carried out by AMS under Ministerial Direction (Direction No. A077, Registration No. E5070; Hardy 2021).
The oblong pit was exposed under the burnt spread at the north–northeast edge and is interpreted as a trough. It was 1.8m by 0.9m in plan and 0.36m deep, had gently sloping sides that broke gradually to a concave base and contained two fills. The basal fill comprised a black silty sand with occasional angular stone inclusions and occasional charcoal flecks and measured 0.8m by 0.74m by 0.08m deep. A sample of hazel charcoal from the basal fill returned a Late Neolithic to Chalcolithic date: 2571–2348 cal. BC (UBA-46754, 3962±28BP).
The upper fill comprised greyish-brown silty clay with frequent angular burnt sandstone and frequent charcoal which measured 1.8m by 0.9m by 0.24–0.32m deep. The burnt spread was irregular in plan and measured 6.05m long (east–west) by 5.55m wide and comprised a single deposit of charcoal-rich clayey silt with frequent heat-shattered sandstone with a maximum depth of 0.1m.
No artefacts were found during the investigation. Palaeo-environmental analysis of the basal fill of the trough identified charred-wood macro-remains of hazel, oak, ash and fruit trees, all dryland species, likely opportunistically collected from the surrounding or neighbouring forest floor.
Archaeological Management Solutions Fahy’s Road, Kilrush, Co. Clare. V15 C780
