Ring-ditch

The National Monuments Service's description

Located in a slight fold opening out to the NW and situated towards the bottom of the NE-facing slope of the Hill of Lloyd. Archaeological testing (04E0913) by J. Roynane (2005) at Testing Area 14 of Contract 4 of the M3 motorway (excavations.ie 2004:1345) identified archaeological material on the route of the N52 Kells link road that was partially excavated by Y. Whitty (E003157) in March 2006 as Commons of Lloyd 1 (2010) when a fulacht fia was completely excavated and part of a ring-ditch was also sampled (excavations.ie 2007:1289).

The ring-ditch is a circular area (diam. c. 20m) defined by a fosse (Wth 0.85-1m; D 0.2-0.63m) with steep sides and a rounded base that is deepest at SE. A chord across the NE edge of the ring-ditch was excavated with the remainder surviving outside the road corridor to the W, but no internal features were present in the excavated area. However, a small pit (dims 0.4m x 0.35m; D 0.12m) just N of the ditch may be contemporary. The primary fill of the ditch is a grey sandy clay with cremated bone and charcoal inclusions, and a sample of unidentified bone produced a C14 date of 384-207 cal. BC (UBA 12938). Charcoal of hazel, ash, fruit trees, oak, and willow, together with two hulled barley grains were also present in this layer, and a sample of barley yielded a radiocarbon determination of 593-655 cal. AD (UBA 12112). A fragment of a lathe-turned antler spindle whorl, of a type dating AD 593-655, was found in the same context. Two upper layers of brown sandy clays contained some burnt bones, but no other artefacts were recovered. The fulacht fia is c. 20m to the SE. (Whitty 2010; 2012)

See the attached plan (L) from Whitty (2010, fig. 5)

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 10 March 2022

References

Whitty, Y. 2010 M3 Clonee – North of Kells, Contract 4, Navan to Kells and Kells Bypass. Final Report on Commons of Lloyd 1, Co. Meath. Licence: E003157. Unpublished report, Irish Archaeological Consultancy

Roynane, J. 2005 M3 Clonee-North of Kells; Contract 4, Navan-Kells and Kells Bypass. Report on Archaeological Assessment at Testing Area 14, in Town Parks, Commons of Lloyd, Whitecommons, Archdeaconry Glebe and Cakestown Glebe townlands, County Meath. Licence: 04E0913. Unpublished report, Irish Archaeological Consultancy

Whitty, Y. 2012 26. Iron Age ring-ditch at Commons of Lloyd, Kells, Co. Meath. in Corlett, C. and M. Potterton (eds) Life and Death in Iron Age Ireland in the light of recent archaeological excavations. 26, 327-30. Dublin, Wordwell