What is recorded here

Rathmullan 7 is a Late Neolithic excavation site in County Meath where a complete Grooved Ware bowl was placed inside a deep pit alongside charcoal flecks and bone fragments. The motorway cut opened the earth, revealing a ritual deposit rather than ordinary refuse. People may have gathered at the post holes to mark the seasons or honour the dead, using the pit as a vessel for memories instead of a hole for waste.

First identified in topsoil stripping (00E0282) for the M1 Motorway (al Fraihat 2000, 4), it was excavated (01E0295) as Rathmullan 13, the name of which was later changed to Rathmullan 7. A Late Neolithic phase consisting of two pits and a concentration of post and stake-holes was identified. A large pit (diam. 1.6-1.64m; D 0.58m) contained fills with flecks of charcoal and bone and a complete Grooved Ware bowl and other Grooved Ware fragments. Radiocarbon dating indicates a range of 2840-2470 BC. Late Neolithic pottery and flint artefacts, including debitage suggest an industrial use, but the deposition of a complete pot is interpreted as ritual activity. (Bolger 2002, 2011) Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 21 October, 2015

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.