House - prehistoric

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on a slight E-facing slope in a gently undulating landscape. Archaeological testing (04E0919) by J. Roynane (2005) at Testing Area 8 of Contract 4 of the M3 motorway identified archaeological material (excavations.ie 2004:1309) that was excavated (E003136) by P. Lynch (2010) as Nugentstown 1 from late September 2006 to mid-January 2007 (excavations.ie 2007:1360). Two large adjacent open areas amounting to 7641 square metres were opened. In Area B Structure 3 is a rectangular structure (dims 8.8m plus NE-SW; 7.5m plus NW-SE) defined by slot trenches on the W (Wth 0.7m; D 0.15m) and SW (Wth 0.6-0.9m; D 0.15m) sides. There is a gap (Wth 0.5m) in the SW side and the trenches do not meet at the SW angle, although there was a posthole and a small pit inside the angle. A rectangular cut filled with a habitation deposit extended only slightly to the N beyond the W slot-trench, and its N extent was marked by a single posthole and a stakehole. No artefacts or dating material was recovered either from the deposit or the slot-trenches. A sample of hazelnut charcoal from a slot-trench provided a C14 date of 1186-978 cal. BC (UBA 12060), placing it in the Late Bronze Age. A large oval pit (dims 4.65m E-W; 1.6m N-S; D 0.3m) with evidence of in situ burning was just NW of the structure and a subcircular pit (dims c. 4m E-W; c. 3.5m N-S: D 0.32m) was c. 1.5m to the W. Both were filled with silty sands that had flecks of oak charcoal flecks but produced no dating material. A small pit and five postholes were in the vicinity of these large pits and may have had some function in relation to them. Structure 2 was c. 12m to the SE. (Lynch 2010, 5-9)

See the attached plan from Lynch (2010, fig. 10)

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 23 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 8 in Nugentstown, County Meath. Licence: 04E0919. Unpublished report, Irish Archaeological Consultancy

Lynch, P. 2010 M3 Clonee – North of Kells, Contract 4, Navan to Kells and Kells Bypass. Final Report on Nugentstown 1, Co. Meath. Licence: E003136. Unpublished report, Irish Archaeological Consultancy