Pit in Portan (dunboyne By.)

Archaeological monitoring (15E0577) by P. Duffy, D. Bayle and J. Whitaker of topsoil stripping over a large area (c. 92 ha.) conducted intermittently between Dec. 2015 and October 2018 uncovered 37 locations of potential archaeological importance (excavations.ie 2016:051). Each of these was further investigated by the same archaeologists under different licences. At Site 12, which was excavated (16E0151) by D. Bayley (excavations.ie 2016:536), an isolated heart-shaped pit (dims 0.9m x 0.7m; D 0.25m) was recorded. It had a single fill of a light brown silty oxidised clay with yellow and orange mottling and ash and charcoal, Only oak was identified in the charcoal, a sample of which provided a C14 date of 3011-2891 cal. BC (FTMC-HR36-6), placing it in the Neolithic. (Duffy et. al. 2021, 4-5) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 26 April, 2023 Duffy, P., Fairhead, S. & F. Fleeshouven 2021 Final Excavation Report for Sites 3-37, Clonee, Portan, Gunnocks, Co. Meath. Multiple licences, Unpublished report, Irish Archaeological Consultancy