Field boundary in Fleenstown Little

Situated at the bottom of the NW and N-facing slope of a small rise in a fairly level landscape. A scarp, probably a lynchet, at the bottom of the slope is visible SW-N-NE (diam. c. 95m NE-SW) on Google Earth from (04/09/2003 onwards) and on OSI images (2000). The feature extends on to the E (total L c. 200m) where it meets the curve of a field boundary depicted on the 1908 edition of the OS 6-inch map. It was first noted by Feeley (2001, 43, No. 32). Archaeological testing (03E1312) by D. Bonner (2004) in Area 16 of the N2 Finglas to Ashbourne road and bypass recorded a flat-bottomed ditch (Wth of top 2.4-2.7m; Wth of base 0.75m; max. D 1.1m) with no evidence of a bank. A sample (L 12m plus) was subsequently excavated by C. Moore under the same licence (excavations.ie 2004:1238) when 14 fills were recorded. The basal fills were humic but most of the fill represented a deliberate closing with orange/grey and brown clays, including redeposited subsoil. All the deposits, except the uppermost, were archaeologically sterile, and no dating material for the construction of the ditch was recovered. Leinster cooking ware and a sherd with spots of glaze, as well as 6 pieces of flint, including two scrapers and three flakes, came from the upper layers or topsoil. Although there was no evidence of a bank, the closing layers suggest that a field bank was levelled across the ditch. (Moore 2008) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 17 December 2021