Excavation

Situated on top of and on the slopes of a low rise on the floor of the valley of the River Blackwater, with a WNW-ESE section of the stream c. 170m to the N. Archaeological testing (04E1058) by G. McLoughlin (2005) at Testing Area 7 of Contract 5 of the M3 motorway identified archaeological features in a fairly limited area (dims c. 40m E-W; c. 30m N-S) that were completely excavated (E003181) by S. Rathbone in January - February 2007 (excavations.ie 2007:1375) as Pottlebane 1 when a large area of c. 7000 square metres was opened. Eight small pits and a large pit or hollow were excavated. The hollow (dims 5.4m N-S; 4.4m E-W; max. D 0.42m) had a hearth (dims 0.64m x 0.54m; T 0.1m) at its W edge and a spread (dims 1m x 0.8m; T 0.06m) of burnt pink sand with charcoal and some burnt bone. A sample of hazel charcoal from this produced a C14 date of 2136-1960 Cal. BC (Beta 247192) placing it in the Early Bronze Age. The hollow was filled with grey/brown sandy clay from which a body sherd of prehistoric pottery was derived. This layer was cut and filled with orange/brown sandy clays from which a chert blade and two chert flakes were recovered. Just E of the hollow a linear cut (dims 1.14m x 0.26m; D 0.12m) was filled with a loose sandy silt from which another a neck sherd of prehistoric pottery vessel was recovered. The pits (dims 1.4m x 0.8m; D 0.2m to 1.8m x 1.16m; D 0.2m) are rather dispersed (c. 12-30m apart) and one produced a sherd of prehistoric pottery while another yielded a C14 date of 889-1022 Cal. AD (Beta 247190) from a sample of oak charcoal. Another pit (1.56m x 1.24m; D 0.34m) had six fills, and the basal layer of brown / black sandy silt had frequent charcoal inclusions, and is interpreted a hearth. A fragment of oak charcoal from this layer produced a C14 date of Cal. AD 695-976 (Beta 247193). Three smaller pits (dims 0.75m x 0.66m to 2m x 1.06m; D 0.28m) at the SE base of the rise had sandy silt fills with frequent charcoal inclusions. A few burnt grains are associated with them and a sample of hazel charcoal from one provided a C4 date of 2136-1906 Cal. BC (Beta 247191). Two periods of casual, temporary activity dating to the Early Bronze Age and the Early medieval are indicated. (Rathbone and Ginn 2008) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 4 March 2022