Excavation — miscellaneous in Elton

In wet pasture 145m N of the Morningstar River that marks the townland boundary with Ballinvana. Elton barrow cemetery which comprises of 37 possible barrows (LI040-078002/035-/-037/039-) lies 135m to NE. Miscellaneous Bronze Age features including an arc of postholes, pits and agricultural ditches were excavated in 1986 by Margaret Gowen the results of which were summarised as follows; ‘During pre-construction survey, the well-known ring-barrow cemetery in this townland was avoided. However, due to the density of obvious archaeological features outside the pipeline route, it was decided to test the pipeline corridor in the area closest to the cemetery. A total of 150m was tested in five 30m blocks. Topsoil was removed by mechanical means and the trenches opened were trowelled back. Truncated and consequently enigmatic archaeological features were revealed. These were an arc of stake holes c. 9m in diameter with no surviving internal features; a group of pits and isolated stake holes. There were no surviving occupation deposits except in features cut into subsoil. The topsoil in the area had a noteworthy depth of 38-45cm, being up to 60cm deep in places. Small sherds of pottery of Bronze Age date and several fragments of struck flint were recovered during the mechanical removal of topsoil. Chert, quartz and flint fragments were recovered along with badly decayed animal bone in one of the pits excavated and a chert point, struck fragments of flint and a biconical red chert bead were recovered from the fill of several of the earlier series of ditches' (Gowen 1987, 26). The interpretation of the excavated features were summarised by Gowen (1988, 67) as 'The features revealed and excavated in the cuttings are really too enigmatic to allow an interpretation. However, their proximity to the barrow cemetery to the east and the presence of Bronze Age pottery and other artefacts does suggest contemporaneity with the surviving monuments. The pits and related features in cutting 2 are likely to represent domestic activity, but the arc of stakes is less easy to interpret. Stake circles are known to occur in ring-barrows and mounds of both funerary and ritual character in Britain during the Bronze Age. On the other hand the stakes could also represent the wall of a domestic structure. The exclusively Bronze Age date of finds recovered from the fill of the excavated portions is noteworthy. Linear ditches are not unknown on ritual and domestic Bronze Age sites, and there is a chance that these features may be of prehistoric date. The cemetery in the adjoining field to the east is subdivided by shallow ditches which appear to respect the positions of the barrows and may therefore be contemporary'. Compiled by: Martin Fitzpatrick Date of upload: 2 July 2021