Ring-ditch in Killadreenan

This report concerns excavations in the townland of Killadreenan during the N11 Newtownmountkennedy–Ballynabarny Road Scheme. Testing by Niall Gregory took place in October 2001 (Excavations 2001, No. 1360, 01E0969) and identified several areas of archaeological potential, apparently of prehistoric date, which were excavated and recorded in May and July 2002. The site was bounded by the N11 to the west, a minor road between Newtownmountkennedy and Newcastle to the north, and the valley of the Chapel River to the south. The excavation area lay at the top of the steep and archaeologically featureless north slope of the Chapel River valley, on a flat plateau that measured c. 140m north–south in a construction corridor c. 40m wide, the surface levels of which lay at 70–72m OD after topsoil-stripping. To the north of the flat area the site dropped c. 5m over a distance of c. 80m. Archaeological remains were concentrated in the upper area, with a few scattered features on the northern slope. The remains consisted of a ditch, almost perfectly circular, with an external diameter of c. 10m, an average width of c. 1m and a depth of c. 0.4–0.7m. The ditch enclosure circled a central pit measuring c. 0.97m by 0.77m by c. 0.1m deep and a few slight traces of other possible features. Pottery and flint from the fills of the ditch have been provisionally dated to the Bronze Age, and the group of features is interpreted as a Bronze Age earthen burial monument of ring-ditch or barrow type. The construction corridor was crossed by three east–west-running linear ditches for distances of at least 30m. The latest of these average c. 0.75m wide and c. 0.1m deep and bisected the ring-ditch, truncating the central pit. The second ditch, c. 0.7m wide and c. 0.35–0.7m deep, cut the fill of the ring-ditch in its north-eastern quadrant and was in turn cut by the latest linear ditch at the point where they both crossed the centre-west point of the ring-ditch. The third ditch, c. 0.6m wide and up to 0.7m deep, joined the ring-ditch in its south-eastern quadrant and apparently stopped at the southernmost point of the ring-ditch. A short length of a fourth ditch, probably cutting the ring-ditch, was traceable from a little to the west of this point, running c. 2.5m to the south-west and beyond the edge of the excavation. The third ditch is interpreted as being contemporary with the ring-ditch, and the other ditches, which produced worked flint provisionally dated to the Late Neolithic period and the Early Bronze Age, may be broadly so. A few vestigial and amorphous features immediately east and north-east of the ring-ditch produced a small number of prehistoric pottery fragments. Two small, roughly circular features, c. 0.6–0.8m in diameter and c. 0.05–0.1m deep, lay c. 25m to the south, 4m from each other. These contained charcoal, ash and burnt bone fragments. The western one overlay four, possibly five, stake-holes in the bedrock. Three patches of similar material nearby were thought to have derived from the same source. Four scattered pits were excavated in an area, c. 15–20m long, south-east of the ring-ditch. The largest was circular, with a diameter of c. 2.2m, and was 0.55m deep; it produced a small fragment of prehistoric, probably Bronze Age, pottery and two flint flakes. The second pit measured 1.4m by 1.2m and was 0.18m deep. These two pits contained apparently burnt stones in their fills, suggesting that they may have been associated with cooking operations. The other two pits were considered to have no archaeological significance. In the south-east corner of the upper area, 55–65m south-east of the ring-ditch, lay a small group of features containing burnt material. One of these, measuring c. 0.55m by 0.6m by 0.18m deep, appeared to be a small pit for a fire. The largest was a pit that measured c. 3.7m by 2.4m and was 0.4m deep, containing charcoal, ash and burnt stones, although it was not clear whether these had been burnt in situ. There were two smaller, less well-defined features between these two pits but no finds from this group. On the slope down to the north of the main area of occupation, ten cut features were investigated, two of which may have been post-holes. Of the other seven small pits, three contained burnt material and one contained a flint scraper, probably representing activity on the fringes of the occupied areas. Finds and features in this area suggest human settlement and activity during the Late Neolithic period and the Bronze Age. Aerial photography and investigations carried out under a separate licence suggest that such activity extends into land to the east of this site. Post-excavation work is continuing (Bennett 2004, 535-6).