Ring-ditch in Moathill

Situated on the crest of the NW-facing slope of a knoll c. 80m NW of the motte (ME025-023001-). Archaeological testing (97E0101) by T. C. Breen on a route of the inner relief road for Navan recovered human remains that appear to have been inhumed in a crouched position in two of his five excavation trenches (excavations.ie 1997:427). The precise location of these burials is not known and they are not necessarily associated with any features discovered subsequently. A geophysical survey (06R0004) by Nicholls and Shiel (2006) combined with archaeological testing (06E0024) by Donald Murphy (2006) identified three concentrations of archaeological features on another parallel route for the relief road that was slightly closer to the motte which would require full excavation. This area, designated Site 2, was completely excavated (excavations.ie 2006:1612) within the road-take by S. Halliday (2009) under the original testing licence (06E0024) from April to June 2006 and it consisted of a ring-ditch (ME025-083----), a rectangular enclosure (ME025-083001-) and elements of a field system (ME025-083002-) but its features are closely connected with the structures of Site 1 to the NE and 3 to the S. The earliest feature of Site 2 is this ring-ditch (int. diam. 12.5m) defined by a fosse (Wth 1.1-1.3m; D 0.7-1.1m), but almost half of it survives outside the excavated area to the NW. It is thought that the crouched inhumations from Breen’s excavation may have been within the ditch. Twelve deposits were identified in the ditch, but there was no uncut causeway entrance although one might survive outside the excavated area. There were no internal features and no artefacts were recovered, but the ditch cut a single sterile pit (diam. 1m; D 1m) at S. The closed ring-ditch was cut by the ditch of a rectangular enclosure (ME025-083001-) which produced early medieval material, so it is presumed to be prehistoric in date, although it need not be much earlier than the enclosure. (Halliday 2009, 30-32) See the attached images from Giacometti (2007, fig. 2) _01 Sites 1-3; from Halliady (2009, figs 25, 2) _02 excavation plan; _03 detail of ring-ditch; Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 5 April 2023 Giacometti, A. 2007 Site 1. Navan Inner Relief Road. Licence: 06E0274. Final unpublished report, Arch-Tech Giacometti, A. 2011 Exploring domestic and non-domestic space in an Early Medieval Landscape at Navan Moat, Co. Meath Ríocht na Mídhe, 22, 43-59. Nicholls, J and Shiel, D. 2006 Geophysical Survey of Navan Inner Relief Road Phase 2B. Licence: 06R0004. Unpublished report, TARGET Archaeological Geophysics Murphy, Donald 2006 Archaeological Assessment of the Navan Inner Relief Road, Phase 2 B. Licence: 06E0024 Unpublished report, Archaeological Consultancy Services Halliday, S. 2009 Navan Inner Relief Road Scheme, Sites 2 & 3. Licence: 06E0024. Final Excavation Report, Unpublished, Arch Tech