Excavation — miscellaneous in Simonstown

Situated on a fairly level landscape. Archaeological testing (95E0232) by K. Campbell (1998, 3-4) identified two pits and an E-W ditch that were set aside for resolution (excavations.ie 1995:234) as Area 1. Archaeological monitoring (98E0352) of topsoil stripping over an area of about 38 hectares (c. 95 acres) by C. Ó Drisceoil (2001, 1) identified six areas of potential archaeological importance consisting largely of pits filled with charcoal and burnt stones (excavations.ie 1998:526). In Area 1 that had already been noted by Campbell, sixteen circular pits (diam. c. 0.5m) and two ditches were found, some of which contained cremated bone, charcoal-rich soils and burnt stone but the features were not excavated. When the extensive area (dims c. 125m x c. 60m) was re-examined (12E0311) by P. D. Sweetman (2012, 2-9) two parallel ditches (Wth 0.4m; D 0.1m) c. 1.7m apart were recorded together with a third (max. Wth 0.57m; D 0.3m) c. 50m to the SW. No artefacts were recovered but they are thought to be modern. A pit (diam. 0.7m; D 0.3m) produced 38 pieces of flint and two sherds of pottery while a second pit (dims 0.45m x 0.35m; D 0.3m) that produced 5 waste flints and four sherds of pottery was 1.3m to the SW. These are the only features from the earlier monitoring to have survived. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 30 March 2023 Campbell, K. 1998 Archaeological Appraisal of Proposed Borrow Areas at Simonstown and Randalstown, Co. Meath. Licence: 95E0232. Unpublished report, Archaeological Consultancy Services Ó Drisceoil, C. 1998 Archaeological Test-excavations at Simonstown, Co. Meath. Licence: 98E0352. Unpublished Interim Report, Archaeological Consultancy Services Sweetman, P. D. 2012 Report on Archaeological Assessment, Monitoring and Excavation at Simonstown, County Meath, August-September 2012. Licence: 12E0311. Unpublished report, Author