What is recorded here

A half-hectare moated enclosure in Corbally, cut with a causeway and inner ditches, later became a burial ground before a gravel pit swallowed it in 2003 and 2004. Horse bones, broken vessels and repeated ditch cuts suggest people lived, worked and remembered there across generations. The excavation did not remove history so much as translate it: measure the ditches, date the layers and give back what the soil had held.

In 2003 (Coyne 2006, 239-40, No. 907: Excavation Licence No. 03E1752) and 2004 (Coyne 2007, 195-6, No. 817: Excavation Licence No. 03E1752 ext.), archaeological excavation in advance of the extension of a sand and gravel pit revealed a moated site, which had a later period of use as a burial ground (KD023-113001-). An almost square area (L 50m; Wth 45m) was enclosed by a substantial ditch (Wth 5-6m; D 2m) with a causeway in the SW corner, the sides of which were revetted with stone. A shallow internal ditch encircling the central portion of the site contained a large amount of animal bone and a complete horse skull. The N portion of the site contained a series of internal ditches, a possible circular structure and the remains of a possible rectangular house. A complex intercutting series of wide ditches, of similar size and shape to the main enclosing ditch, was excavated just N of the site, as well as a series of smaller ditch and drain features. A possible sunken house was also excavated to the E of the main enclosure. Large quantities of animal bones were recovered throughout the site. Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 18 December 2012

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