2023:863 - Ferganstown, Ballymacon and Athlumney, Navan, Meath

The excavation of these areas commenced on 19th March 2024 and was completed by 8 April 2024. It confirmed two phases of activity, comprising a Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age burnt mound and a Late Iron Age cereal-drying kiln.  This chronology is supported by artefact date ranges as well as radiocarbon dates.

It has been noted that the natural subsoil within the site may have originated from a period of flooding associated with a nearby watercourse, possibly a tributary of the River Boyne located c. 670m southeast of the development. Burnt mound/fulacht fiadh sites are typically located adjacent to a watercourse or in marginal lands where there is a high water-table, and evidence of localised flooding would not be unusual in this context. Whilst burnt mounds are not themselves settlement sites, they are good indicators of one nearby, and it is likely that a contemporary settlement is located somewhere in the area on well-drained, better ground.

The Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age phase comprised a burnt mound spread and associated features. A set of two sub-rectangular structures were also recoded. The size and the open shape of the structures together with the presence of pits, a shallow hearth and a trough suggest the structures were very likely used as a temporary shelter and windbreak within the area of a fulacht fiadh.

The Late Iron Age activity comprised a single isolated cut feature filled with burnt material including charcoal and charred cereal grains.  This was interpreted as the remains of a small circular cereal-drying kiln. This chronology is supported by artefactdate ranges as well as radiocarbon dates.