2021:719 - Leggatinty 7, Roscommon

Leggatinty 7 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 and Transport Infrastructure Ireland. The site consisted of two burnt mounds located in rough boggy pasture terrain on the western edge of a 5m-wide palaeochannel. It was identified during Stage (i)m testing in forestry, carried out by AMS under Ministerial Direction (Direction No. A077, Registration No. E5070; Hardy 2021).

The northern burnt mound was irregular in plan and consisted of a spread of friable dark brown/blackish silty clay with frequent inclusions of heat-affected sandstone and charcoal flecks and chunks. It was 12.42m long (north–south), 10.96m wide and 0.54m deep. A trough was cut into the underlying silty clay under the west side of the burnt mound. This feature was irregular in plan, 1.98m long, 2.02m wide and 0.5m deep. It had steeply sloping, stepped sides that broke sharply at the top and gradually at the bottom to a concave base. It contained two fills: the basal fill was 0.1m deep and consisted of loose whitish, mid-yellow sand, with the upper 0.4m consisting of loose blackish, mid-brown silty clay with frequent charcoal flecks and heat-affected sandstone. Alder charcoal from the upper fill of the trough returned a Middle to Late Bronze Age date of 1220–1014 cal. BC (UBA-48083; 2925±33).

The southern burnt mound was roughly horseshoe-shaped in plan and consisted of a spread of friable black silty clay with frequent inclusions of heat-affected sandstone and charcoal flecks and chunks. It measured 8.9m long (north–south), 8.42m wide and 0.34m deep. A single piece of struck chert was recovered from this context. A timber-lined trough was located in a natural hollow in the centre of the mound. The cut of the trough was sub-rectangular in plan with gently sloping sides that broke gradually at the top and at the bottom to a flat base. This cut was 2.55m long, 1.07m wide and 0.12m deep. It was cut at the base by wooden stakes which functioned as pegs holding the timber linings of the trough in position. The timbers lining the trough were half split or whole roundwood pieces of alder, willow, ash and hazel and ranged in size from 2.15m long, 0.08m wide and 0.07m in thickness to 0.13m long, 0.07m wide and 0.07m in thickness, with the larger timbers constituting the base of the trough. A fragment of waterlogged alder from the lining at the base of the trough returned a Late Bronze Age date of 1117–919 cal. BC (UBA-48084; 2848±33), while a fragment of waterlogged willow from the lining at the side of the trough returned an Early Bronze Age date of 2008–1747 cal. BC (UBA-48085; 3537±35).

Two additional burnt spreads were recorded to the west of the burnt mounds. Both were irregular in plan and consisted of friable blackish, mid-brown silty clay with frequent inclusions of charcoal flecks and heat-affected sandstone and measured 2.87m long, 1.58m wide, 0.16m deep and 1.88m long, 1.38m wide 0­.04m deep. A pit measuring 1.33m long, 1.27m wide and 0.11m deep was located east of the northern burnt mound. It was sub-oval in plan with imperceptibly sloping sides that broke imperceptibly at the top and at the bottom to a flat base. It contained a single fill consisting of compact dark grey silty clay with occasional inclusions of charcoal flecks.

Four finds were recovered from the site: a chert scraper, two chert flakes and a sherd of post-medieval unglazed red earthenware pottery. The three chert lithics will be retained for the national collection. Charcoal from the burnt mounds/spreads and the fills of the troughs and pits consisted of alder, birch, hazel, ash, pomaceous fruitwood, oak, elm, holly, ivy and willow.

This report summary was submitted on behalf of its authors.

Reference

Hardy, C. 2021. N5 Ballaghaderreen to Scramoge Road Project Stage (i)a, (i)b, (i)c Test Excavation, Stage (i)m Testing in Felled Forestry and Stage (i)f Townland Boundary Survey. Ministerial Direction No. A077, Registration No. E5070. Unpublished AMS report for TII and RCC.

AMS, Fahy's Road, Kilrush, Clare