2022:427 - Horizon Site N Area 1, Silloge, Swords, Dublin

A programme of archaeological excavation was carried out at Archaeological Area 1 of Horizon Site N, Silloge, Swords.
The site comprised a large trough, seven pits, a small slot trench, five post-holes and one stake-hole. The activity identified on site centred upon the large trough that contained a number of distinct heat-shattered stone deposits and a recut, indicating that it was re-used multiple times. This trough is a clear indication of the site’s association with burnt spread activity, where stones are heated in a fire and then placed in a trough of water in order to boil the water. A burnt spread that was identified during testing in 2019 was not exposed or excavated as part of this excavation as it is located in an ecological exclusion zone around a field boundary and small stream. A shallow slot trench to the east of the trough, four post-holes and a stake-hole which extended between the trough and slot trench, and a number of pits distributed to the southeast, south and southwest of the trough are all deemed to be broadly contemporary; they contained fills that are consistent with burnt spread activity.

No finds were retrieved from the trough or any of its associated features, and thus sampled materials are the only form of diagnostic material retrieved from site. Burnt mounds may date from the Neolithic through to the early medieval period. The majority of examples, however, predominantly date to the Middle to Late Bronze Age.

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 radiocarbon dates will add to our understanding and interpretation of the site, which will then be placed in its wider local and regional archaeological context within the final report.

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