Excavation — miscellaneous in Loughsallagh

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. Coughlan in 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. Twelve pits (dims 0.77m x 0.6m; D 0.07m to 1.96m x 1.38m; D 0.2m) in a concentrated area (dims 10m x 10m) were filled with single fills of grey-black silty or sandy clays, and five of the pits were covered by a spread of grey silty clay (dims 8m x 5m; max. T 0.1m). One of the largest pits (dims 1.94m x 1.5m; D 1m) had fills of a black silty clay over a grey sandy clay, and there were four stake-holes in its base. No charcoal flecking was noted and no artefacts were recovered, apart from a small quantity of animal bone. Two shallow E-W linear cuts just N of the pits are probably furrows. (Whitaker 2020, 21-5, Site 7) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 8 November 2021