Excavation — miscellaneous in Castleknock (without Phoenix Park)

Geophysical survey (Licence no. 04R052) and test excavation (Licence no. 04E0796) in advance of residential development. Features identified including a curvilinear gully, refuse pits and post/stakeholes were subsequently excavated (Licence no. 04E0935). At the east of the site, a small kiln appeared to have been truncated by a later pit. It consisted of a drystone setting or lining along the sides of a cut with oxidisation along the base. To the west of the kiln structural features indicated a small shelter or work area, centred on a hearth, in association with a series of refuse pits and a curvilinear gully. A large quantity of medieval pottery, c. 2989 sherds, was recovered, dating to the late 13th and early 14th centuries, including pottery wasters, ladles or pipkins with hooked handles, cooking vessels, and jugs with slashed and plain strap handles, thumbed rims and bases. Applied body decoration included so-called raspberry 'prunts'. A two-colour floor tile of probable 13th-century date was also found within the scorched backfill of an additional hearth. This corresponds to the provisional date for the majority of the pottery recovered from the site. Other finds included a copper alloy stick pin, spindle whorl, a fragment of a rotary quernstone and a carved, slightly serrated, bone piece possibly used to decorate pottery (Campbell, K. 2004:0480 www.excavations.ie). Compiled by: Christine Baker Date of upload: 8 February 2015