Field boundary in Athlumney

Situated towards the W edge of a fairly level landscape and c. 90m from the crest of a steep SW-facing slope down (H c. 12m) to a SSE-NNW portion of the River Boyne. Two portions of souterrain passages (ME025-049001-; ME025-049002-) c. 15m apart were found in preparing and EIS in 1995, but archaeological testing (97E0322) of the wider development area (c. 7 ha) to the E and S by E. Sullivan (1998) produced no further material (excavations.ie 1997:424). Subsequently the two souterrains were excavated (98E0596) by C. Jones (1999) when one certain (ME025-049003-) and another possible portion (ME025-049004-) of souterrain passages came to light c. 30m and c. 75m to the NE (excavations.ie1999:701) of the original discoveries that were further investigated (07E0892) by J. Hession (excavations.ie 2007:1255). This possible souterrain (4) is c. 75m NE of the first two discovered and no habitation level or enclosing feature was associated with it, but it proved to be a wall. It was first discovered by Jones (1999) in testing the wider area around the original discoveries and it was exposed only in the side of one trench within the habitation soils. It manifested as a drystone wall of three courses (L c. 1.5m; H c. 0.4m) with an uneven face that was set in a loamy clay immediately below the topsoil and was thought to be the hidden or rear edge of a souterrain wall. It was in a continuous layer in which archaeological trenching by Jones identified two hearths and many ditches that had some stratigraphic relationships and from which significant artefacts like a glass bead and fragments of jet bracelets were recovered. (Jones 1999, 13-17) When Hession (2009, 59-60) explored (07E0892) this area he encountered a substantial ditch (Wth 3.79m; D 1.38m) with a steep W side, a stepped E side and a wall over its top fill that extended N-S (L 12.5m plus). This was the feature identified by Jones, but no dating material relating to it was recovered. Hession (ibid. 58-61) removed the topsoil over the entire area (excavation.ie 2007:1255) but an enclosing ditch that might have encompassed the souterrains was not encountered. However, he uncovered the upper surfaces of 52 ditches and linear features, 9 post-holes, 9 pits and 12 occupation deposits in a fairly limited area (dims c. 80m x c. 40m). The major ditches can be co-related between the two excavations. One E-W V-shaped ditch (Wth of top 2.97m; D 1.5m; L 15.8m) with a stone wall set in its upper fill was sampled but produced no dating material. A sample excavation (dims 18m x 7.5m) necessitated by the development produced evidence of five phases. A sherd of souterrain ware was recovered from the basal fill of the earliest ditch (Wth of top 0.7m; D 0.8m) suggesting a later first millennium AD date. Later features included other ditches, pits and linear features, but no firmer dating material was recovered. The large ditches appear to be the remnants of a field system attached to the burial ground and enclosure (ME025-078----) further to the NE, but all the features are preserved in situ beneath a geo-textile membrane and introduced soils in the carpark of the new development. (Hession 2009, 59-66) See the attached site plan from Hession (2009, Fig. 7) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 30 March 2023 Jones, C. 1999 Archaeological Excavations of Souterrains and Associated Features at the IDA Business Park, Athlumney, Navan. Licence: 98E0596. Unpublished report, Margaret Gowen & Co. Hession, J. 2009 Final Archaeological Report for the multiphase archaeological landscape preserved in situ at IDA Business and Technology Park, Dublin, Rd., Navan, Co. Meath. Licence: 07E0892. Unpublished report, Margaret Gowen & Co. Sullivan, E. E. 1998 Archaeological Test Excavation at Athlumney House, Kilcarn, Navan, Co. Meath. Licence: 97E0322. Unpublished report, Margaret Gowen & Co.