Road - class 3 togher

The National Monuments Service's description

This site was located in the industrial peatlands of Lough Bannow Bog. It was recorded in the 2013 Re-assessment Peatland Survey as a togher visible in the drain face 0.13m below the field surface. The elements were sparsely laid over an area 2.08m in width. There were no additional sightings in the drains to the east or west (Whitaker 2014).

A single cutting was opened and excavated under licence 15E0208. The site was overlain by moderately decomposed Sphagnum peat and underlain by fen peat. It was dated cal. 2618-2469 BC (UBA 26643). The excavated structure was composed of a series of longitudinally laid roundwoods (L3.05-6.03m). The composition of the site varied along its length. At the E extent of the cutting were six sparsely placed E-W orientated roundwoods. The central part of the site consisted of five shorter longitudinal roundwoods, whose W extent was supported by two parallel transverse roundwoods. To the E of the transverses, the site consisted of a single longitudinal roundwood that stopped 0.9m short of the western drain edge. Five of the elements had toolmarked ends, three wedge and two chisel points. All had multiple concave or dished facets. The roundwoods were species identified as alder, ash, elm and hazel.

Compiled by: Jane Whitaker/Femke Vleeshouwer

Date of upload: 28/02/2020

References

Whitaker, J. 2014 Re‐assessment Peatland Survey 2013, Blackwater, Boora, Derrydreenagh, Mountdillon Group of Bogs, County Offaly, Longford, Westmeath and Roscommon. Unpublished report prepared by ADS for Bord na Móna.

Whitaker, J. 2017 Final Excavation Report, Lough Bannow Bog, Co. Longford (15E0205–15E0213). Unpublished report prepared by IAC Ltd submitted to the National Monuments Service, Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Dublin.