Excavation — miscellaneous in Drumgold

Situated in woodland on a slight SW-facing slope down to a SE-NW section of a stream known as Drumgold Stream. Monitoring of topsoil removal (E004646) during the construction phase of the M11 Gorey to Enniscorthy motorway in September 2016 identified archaeological deposits which were subsequently excavated (E004788) in interrupted sessions over three months. The earliest phase is represented by four pieces of rhyolite from two large and two smaller blades of Mesolithic style from a shallow hollow (dims 2.9m c 2.65m; D 0.35m) which might be natural. A second phase is indicated by eight pits (dims 0.98m x 0.65m; D 0.12m to 1.84m x 1.28m; D 0.56m), and a sample of hazel from the base of one of the pits returned a C14 date of 1742-1546 cal. BC. However, the smallest pit (dims 0.93m x 0.72m; D 0.1m), which was isolated from the others, produced charcoal which yielded a C14 date of 1045-1250 cal. AD. After a period of inundation with silts and hillwash accumulating boundary ditches of the early medieval period were constructed. One (Wth 1.6m; D 0.54-0.8m; L 23m plus) followed the slope down to the SW, parallel with and c. 5m NW of a mapped field bank. Its base was re-cut at one point, and a stone drain was inserted into its S end. At SW it debouched into a curving NW-SE drain (Wth 1.35m; D 0.48m) on the line of a mapped boundary. The fills of these ditches were largely the result of natural silting. A sample of hazel charcoal from the earliest cut of the NW-SE drain produced a C14 date of 614-763 cal. AD. An L-shaped ditch (Wth 0.95m; D 0.18m; L 8.2m) almost connects the two ditches in the angle at their junction but connects only with the NW-SE one. The fills of this ditch were largely the result of siltation but contained what might be cherry and cereal grains as well as oak, hazel and willow. A C14 date of 778-994 cal. AD was returned. Contemporary with the ditches was a group of three cereal-drying kilns. Two were small oval or sub-rectangular pits (dims 1.1m x 0.88-1m; D 0.16-0.2m) but the third (dims 2.86m x 1.08m D 0.34m) was tadpole-shaped with its flue extending off to the SW where it was cut by the NW-SE boundary drain. The kilns had oxidised bases and a sample of hazel charcoal from the base of the largest produced a C14 date of 668-864 cal. AD. The two smaller kilns produced dates of 644-765 cal. AD and 776-981 cal. AD, showing that all three are closely contemporary with each other and the drains. (Whitty and Kavanagh 2018) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 3 November 2020