Ring-ditch in Johnstown (ratoath By., Dunshaughlin Par.)

Situated on a slight N-facing slope. Archaeological centre-line testing (04E0476) by E. Cotter of Testing Area 15, Contract 1, prior to the construction of the M3 motorway identified a spread of burnt soil here but considered it an isolated feature (Cotter 2004, 17). In excavating at Johnstown 3, which is c.100m to the NW, S. Elder noted pottery at this location, and it was completely excavated (E003052) by this archaeologist as Johnstown 4 between February and June 2006 (excavations.ie 2006:1574). This is a subrectangular area (int. dims c. 25m N-S; c. 13-21m E-W) defined by a single ditch (Wth c. 1.7m; D c. 0.7m), with an entrance causeway (Wth 1.9m) at the centre of the E side. The ditch had over 130 fills, consisting largely of clays and silts with decayed stones and varying amounts of charcoal flecking. Some burnt animal bone was recovered from five of these layers close to the entrance and charred oats and barley were recorded in two contexts. Samples of charred blackthorn and hawthorn from primary contexts provided C14 dates of 896-675 ca. BC and 986-773 cal. BC. Four of the five pits in a group and a nearby spread in the interior had some burnt bone, although the bone cannot be identified as either animal or human. The pits are small (diam. 0.33m; D 0.06m to 0.82m x 0.4m; D 0.08m) with one larger (dims 1.66m x 0.66m; D 0.25m) pit. The only other feature in the interior was a single post-hole. There were three small external pits, one (dims 0.58m x 0.52m; D 0.2m) with charcoal and burnt bone in its upper fill returned a C14 date of 407-208 cal. BC. (Elder and Ginn 2009) See the attached plan from Elder and Ginn (2009, fig. 7) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 9 December 2021