Ring-ditch

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.

A ring-ditch (int. diam. c. 9m) was located c. 20m W of the timber circle, but only about a third of its defining ditch (Wth 0.6m; D 0.14m) was within the excavated area. It had a single fill consisting of a loose, mid-brown silty clay. There were no original internal features, although it was truncated by a WNW-ESE post-medieval ditch at S and cut by a NW-SE one. No artefacts were recovered from the ditch but a fragment of a carbonized hazelnut shell provided a C14 date of 2137-1965 cal. BC (UBA 12083), placing it in the Early Bronze Age. (Whitty 2011, 23-4)

A pit (dims 2m x 1.5m; D 0.42m) with evidence of in situ burning and fills of broken bedrock, black and brown clayey silts was c. 14m to the NE and c. 7m W of the timber circle. Fragments of iron nails and iron slag from smithing were recovered from the pit and a posthole beside it provided a C14 date of 51 cal. BC to 52 cal. AD (UBA 12087) from a sample of a fruitwood. It is the only evidence of Iron Age or later activity, apart from post-medieval ditches. (Whitty 2011, 24)

See the attached plans from Whitty (2011, figs 5, 13)
ME017-087005-_1 Site plan;
ME017-087002-_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 Unpublished report, Irish Archaeological Consultancy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 Unpublished report, Irish Archaeological Consultancy