Structure in Rath (ratoath By., Cookstown Par.)

Situated at the top of a S and SW-facing slope at the SE end of a NW-SE ridge. Archaeological excavation (03E1214) by H. Schweitzer between March and October 2004 in advance of the northern section of the N2 by-pass around Ashbourne on site 27 involved the complete excavation of six areas numbered from the S. Features recorded in Areas 6 included two coeval wattle-lined waterholes and drains associated with them (Schweitzer 2009, 46). This waterhole was a sunken oval area (dims 7m E-W; 5.5m N-S; max. D 2.3m) with steep sides at N and S and shallower access slopes at E and W. It was immediately E of (ME039-011----). Initially the excavated oval depression had a subrectangular (dims 2.7m x 2m; D 0.95m) pit with a wooden revetment at SE, connected by a gully to a deeper oval pit (dims 1.95m x 2.63m) at NW which acted as a sump. Metalled surfaces to the S and E stepped down to a metalled platform (dims 2m x 1.2m) accessing the rectangular pit (D 0.25m). The rectangular pit had more organic fills than the oval pit, the fills of which were fairly sterile. When the wattle retaining the sides of the rectangular pit collapsed it was temporarily abandoned and silt and collapse covered the pit and the lowest access platform. More organic deposits above this contained Late Bronze Age pottery and a wooden scoop that produced a C14 date of 390-190 Cal. BC. A wattle basket structure (dims 2.45m x 1.8m) was added at the centre of the original oval water hole, cutting some of the silting and collapse layers, and it was surrounded by four metalled surfaces, one of which had evidence of wheel-ruts. A dog was buried in a pit (duns, 1,9m x 1.75m D 0.16m) at the S edge of the metalled area which was ultimately covered by silts after the abandonment of the wattle basket. (Schweitzer 2009, 53-9)