Charcoal-making site in Ardan

New monument described as Ardan 1, that was excavated by Linda Hegarty of Headland Archaeology Ltd, in December 2006 in advance of the proposed N52 Tullamore bypass national road scheme, that is located c. 0.5km north of Tullamore. The land comprises gently undulating farmland on a gentle south-facing slope, which was under pasture at the time of testing. The site was covered by mid-brown silty sand topsoil with an average depth of 0.5m. This contained moderate amounts of small and medium mixed stones. The glacial till in this area consisted of a grey, coarse gravelly sand, which included small stones, medium boulders and sub-rounded, cobble-sized stones. A spread of charcoal-rich sandy silt and heat-shattered stone (Context 03) was identified in the centre-line trench and offset trench T1. A figure-of-eight-shaped pit (Context 06) and a linear ditch (Context 08) were identified c. 8m north of the burnt spread. Context 03 comprised an irregular spread, 0.11m deep, of charcoal-rich sandy silt with frequent inclusions of small and medium heat-shattered and fire-reddened stone. It measured 16.5m east–west by 3.2m within T1. Offset T1 was widened to 4m in order to define the northernmost extent of the spread. Immediately south of, and parallel to, T1 was the current field boundary. This comprised a low bank and a V-shaped ditch heavily overgrown with brambles. The boundary was c. 5m wide. Test-trenching on the southern side of this boundary identified no archaeological deposits. It is likely that the construction of this field boundary has truncated the southernmost edge of the burnt spread. A linear feature was noted c. 1m west of Context 03; this feature was also identified in offset T2a (Context 08). Offset T2a was widened to 6m in order to determine the full extent of Context 06. This comprised a figure-of-eight-shaped pit initially identified in the centre-line trench c. 8m north of the burnt spread Context 03. A small section excavated at its south-western edge revealed it to be 0.3m deep. The feature measured a total of 4m east–west by a maximum of 2m. The western end of the figure-of-eight measured 2m in diameter, it narrowed to 0.8m for a length of 0.6m before widening at the eastern end to 2m north–south by 1.5m. A single fill was noted (Context 07) comprising a homogenous mid-brown silty clay with moderate charcoal flecks and occasional charcoal fragments. The charcoal was more prevalent towards the base of the feature. The linear feature (Context 08) was noted c. 3m west of Context 06. Within T2a it was oriented north-east/south-west for a distance of 8m before turning 90° to the south-east. It continued for a further 2m within T2a and was noted in T1, 8m to the south. It continued across T1 and is likely to be truncated by the construction of the existing field boundary. The north-eastern continuation was observed in the centre-line but not in offset T3, giving the feature a potential total length of c. 45m; it was an average of 1.7m wide. A section through Context 08 revealed it to be 0.45m deep; it was filled with a firm mid-brown silty clay with occasional charcoal flecks and fragments. Approximately 35m north of Ardan 1, in offset T4, two small shallow spreads of charcoal-flecked material were identified. The northernmost of these (Context 05) was 0.95m north–south by 0.6m and was 0.08m deep. It comprised a spread of small heat-shattered and fire-reddened stones, fragments of burnt clay and charcoal flecks. There was evidence of in situ burning in the form of heat-affected natural beneath the feature. The second spread (Context 04) was 0.6m south-west of Context 05. This was 0.56m north–south by 0.3m and 0.03m deep. It comprised a spread of charcoal-rich sandy silt and occasional small fragments of heat-shattered stone. Approximately 50% of the deposit was sampled for environmental analysis. An area of c. 25m2 was opened around these features, but no further archaeological deposits were identified. No artefacts were recovered from either feature, both of which were fully excavated during test excavation works (Bennett 2009, 446-7). Extra testing of Ardan I by Liam McKinstry, Headland Archaeology Ltd, under licence No. A033; E2493 in October 2007 in advance of the proposed N52 Tullamore bypass national road scheme, was located approximately 2km north of Tullamore town centre, in an area dominated by esker ridges. Prior to the completion of the CPO fence line and site clearance the area was used primarily as rough grazing for sheep and cattle. Due to the topography of the area the test-trenching array was restricted to the low areas in between the esker ridges. Testing towards the southern end of the ridges revealed a subcircular shallow pit with a diameter of 1.6m and a depth of 0.16m. There were two fills to the pit, a charcoal-rich silty sand which formed the basal fill of the pit and a mid-blackish-grey ashy deposit. A sample was taken from the primary fill and will be used to date the feature and identify the species of tree used to produce charcoal at this location (Bennett 2010, 393-4). Compiled by Caimin O'Brien Date of upload/revision : 07 November 2011