Timber circle

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on a fairly level landscape. Archaeological testing (04E0917) by J. Roynane (2005) at Testing Area 10 of Contract 4 of the M3 motorway identified (excavations.ie 2004:1270) archaeological material on the route of the E link road to Kells that was excavated (E003144) in February and March 2007 by Y. Whitty (2011) as Kilmainham 3 (excavations.ie 2007:1338) when an area of 5176 square meters was opened and five structures were recorded. Two structures that were probably houses and a timber circle were associated with Grooved ware. Nearby, portion of an Early Bronze Age ring-ditch was excavated, and about 50m S of the timber circle were five postholes and some pits of an Early Neolithic date.

This is a subcircular feature (dims 18m N-S; 16m E-W) consisting of a double ring of postholes, although the inner ring of generally smaller postholes does not survive W-ENE, on the N side of two WNW-ESE post-medieval drains that bisect it. A wide gap (Wth 6m) at WNW may have been an entrance. Radiocarbon dating of material from four of the postholes provided a wide range of dates from 5620-5480 cal. BC (SUERC 29340) in the Mesolithic to the early medieval with 608-665 cal. AD (UBA 12084), and only one sample returned an acceptable date of 2880-2580 cal. BC (SUERC 29341) supported by the Grooved ware sherds from two of the postholes. At the centre four postholes formed a square structure (dims 3m x 3.4m) that has a shallow central pit (diam. 0.42m; D 0.11m) with some burnt bone, the only piece recognized not being human. Some sherds of Grooved ware were recovered from these features and a sample of hazelnut shell from a small pit just outside the structure provided a C14 date of 2871-2586 cal. BC (UBA 12086). Oak was the dominant or sole species recorded in the environmental samples examined. (Whitty 2011, 10-17)

See the attached plans from Whitty (2011, figs 5, 9)
ME017-088003-_1 Site plan;
ME017-088003-_2 Plan;

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload; 22 March 2022

References

Roynane, J. 2005 M3 Clonee-North of Kells; Contract 4, Navan - Kells and Kells Bypass. Report on Archaeological Assessment at Testing Area 10 in Kilmainham, County Meath. Licence: 04E0917. Unpublished report, Irish Archaeological Consultancy

Whitty, Y. 2011 M3 Clonee – North of Kells, Contract 4, Navan to Kells and Kells Bypass. Final Report on Kilmainham 3, Co. Meath. Licence: E003144. Unpublished report, Irish Archaeological Consultancy