2022:430 - Archaeological area 3 (AA3), Horizon Site N, Silloge, Swords, Dublin

An archaeological excavation was undertaken at Area 3, on the Horizon Site N, in the townland of Silloge, Swords, Co. Dublin. Excavation commenced on site on 20 September and was completed by 29 September 2021.

The site comprised two main phases of activity. The first phase was characterised by a ring ditch (c. 18m internal diameter) with a single internal feature, a number of external features and a pit which cuts the ring ditch. The only diagnostic artefact recovered from any of these features was a barbed-and-tanged flint blade which has been dated to the Early Bronze Age (site analysis only). The nature of the ditch cut, narrow and relatively shallow, along with the relatively small internal diameter (18m), all support the interpretation of it being a Bronze Age ring ditch. The north-western side of the ditch was disturbed by modern activity. A larger enclosure, listed as DU014-123 on the RMP maps, and excavated at Archaeological Area 5 (Licence 21E0505) as part of this overall project, was located c. 50m to the southwest. At present, there is nothing to indicate that the two sites were related and/or contemporary.

The second phase of activity consists of two agricultural furrows and two field boundaries. Stratigraphically, the furrows pre-date the field boundaries as one of them is cut by one of the field boundaries. Neither of the field boundary ditches are shown on the First Edition OS map of 1836, which could indicate that they pre-date the map and had fallen out of use prior to the map being surveyed. An iron nail was the only artefact recovered from the fills of these ditches.
The south-east corner of the overall development site and proposed access road is located within the zone of archaeological potential for a possible medieval field system (DU014-021), located c. 300m from this site. The field system was originally identified from an aerial photograph from 1971 and has been subject to two geophysical surveys. The south-west corner of the overall development site is located within a recently identified field system (DU014-107), c. 600m from Archaeological Area 3. The exact extents of this recently discovered field system have not yet been defined by the National Monuments Service.

The preliminary site interpretation has been based on stratigraphic relationships and typological similarities between features that were identified during the excavation works. It is hoped that further post-excavation works and AMS dates will add to our understanding and interpretation of the site.

c/o IAC Archaeology Ltd, Unit G1 Network Enterprise Park, Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow