Pit in Ballynabanoge

On gently sloping NE-facing pasture 100m SW of the River Maigue and the townland boundary with Inchinclare. One of a large group of prehistoric archaeological sites (LI031-211/212----) located 500m to SE, excavated on the Bord Gáis Éireann's Pipeline to the West in 2002 (Grogan et. al. 2007). No trace of the excavated site was present on historic OSi maps or aerial photographs prior to its discovery during pipeline construction. A cremation burial (LI031-215001-) and three pits (LI031-215002-) were excavated within a 24m stretch of pipeline corridor straddling the base of a hill and the edge of the river flood-plain (Taylor 2004, 305). Pits 1 and 3 were cut into silty clay deposits on the slope above the gravel terrace. Pit 1 was sub-circular (diam. 0.5m; D 0.2m) with steep sides and a slightly concave base. The cut of the pit was carefully executed, with the sides and base smoothly finished. The fill was a black clayey silt with an extremely high charcoal content (80%). Pit 3 was ovoid (diam. 1.25m N-S; 0.6m E-W; D 0.15m) with a bowl-shaped profile. The fill was a mid-grey/brown, clayey silt with a moderate charcoal volume, mostly in discrete lenses mixed with occasional limestone pieces. In the absence of absolute dating evidence, it is not possible to determine whether the features (LI031-215001-; LI031-215002-) are related chronologically, a prehistoric date is considered likely. The well-defined cut and high charcoal content of Pit 1 is characteristic of Bronze Age cremation burials excavated elsewhere in the county as part of the Bord Gáis Éireann's Pipeline archaeological project (LI039-189----). The excavator interpreted these pits as potentially being symbolic or ‘blind burials’ of Bronze Age date. Pit 3 was adjacent to Pit 1 and may be have a related function. Compiled by: Edmond O’Donovan Date of upload: 28 October 2020