Pit in Gunnocks

Located on a fairly level landscape. A gradiometer survey (17R0229) by Target Archaeological Geophysics of an extensive development area of c. 75 ha in the townlands of Loughsallagh, Portan, and Gunnocks, identified numerous anomalies of potential archaeological interest. Targeted archaeological testing (18E0013) by T. Coughlin (2018) and M. Piera (19E0211) in 2019 was able to demonstrate that many of these were of fairly modern agricultural origin. However, sixteen locations were set aside for further investigation, which was undertaken by J. Whitaker under the licence (18E0013) between the beginning of April and the end of July 2019, and all but four of these proved to be of archaeological interest. Four pits (dims 0.4m x 0.3m; D 0.11m to 1.6mx 0.7m; D 0.26m) were excavated in a fairly limited area (dims c. 10m x c. 10m) with an outlying pit (dims 1.15m x 0.84m; D 0.14m) c. 35m to the NE. The pits were filled with single layers of grey-brown silty clays, but burnt stone and charcoal was also present in the largest pit. There is some inter-, cutting in the concentration of pits but no artefacts were recovered from any of them. (Whitaker 2020, 42, Site 16) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 5 November 2021