2023:578 - Creemore, Belshamstown, & Pelletstown townlands, Meath

Test excavations were undertaken to inform future development plans for a c. 100ha site in the townlands of Creemore, Belshamstown and Pelletstown, near the village of Batterstown, Co. Meath. In total, 100 trenches (T1 – T99, T111) measuring approximately 1,525 linear metres were excavated during the testing. The principal purpose of the programme of archaeological testing was to establish if the anomalies identified through a geophysical survey (Nichols 2022; Licence no. 22R0077) were archaeological and if so, the nature, extent, and character of any remains.

Test excavation confirmed the presence of 25 archaeological sites, all of which had been first recorded by the geophysical survey with varying degrees of certainty. These 25 sites comprise 6 undated enclosures; 8 burnt mound sites; 6 possible ring-ditches, including a cluster of three; two isolated features with metallurgical waste; the remains of a metal-working site; an annular ditch that may be structural; and two isolated pits, one with burnt mound material and the other with evidence of burning and burnt bone.

A non-archaeological discovery of note was a circular pit in Trench 74. The trench was targeting the location of a former building depicted on the 1^st edition OS maps that had been removed by the time of the 25” to the mile edition. Within the pit was an overturned iron pot or skillet covering a green glass bottle. Its not known whether this represents a type of piseóg or was done for more mundane reasons like storage, for concealment, or to help keep/preserve the contents of the bottle.

Reference:

Nichols, J. 2022 ‘Geophysical Survey Report. Proposed battery storage park in Belshamstown, Creemore, Pelletstown & Woodland townlands, County Meath. Licence no. 22R0077’ Unpublished report prepared by Target Archaeological Geophysics.