Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland
Pit
Phoenixtown, County Meath, Ireland
The record
- Townland
- Phoenixtown
- County
- Meath
- Country
- Ireland
- First-edition OS map
- Not indicated
- Latest-edition OS map
- Not indicated
- Coordinates
- 53.68186, -6.79877
- SMR number
- ME024-030001-
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
4 historical maps cover this location, the earliest the 1790 map "Composite: Ireland." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).
Historical maps covering this location
- 1790 · Composite: Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1799 · Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1811 · Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
- 1891 · Ireland 16 (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
This record in the National Monuments Service's Historic Environment Viewer ↗
The National Monuments Service's description
Situated in a gently undulating landscape. Archaeological testing (04E0926) by S. Keith (2005) at Testing Area 3 of Contract 4 of the M3 motorway identified a burnt mound (excavations.ie 2004:1311) that was fully excavated (E003128) by E. Lyne (2010) as Phoenixtown 1 in August-September 2006 (excavations.ie 2007:1261). An area of 4500 square metres was opened revealing the burnt mound as well as this isolated concentration of four pits and an outlying pit that produced sherds of Neolithic pottery.
A shallow pit (dims 2.2mx 0.95m; D 0.09m) yielded seven sherds of Early Neolithic pottery and c. 4m to the E two pits (dims 0.74m x 0.46m; D 0.16m: dims 0.55m x 0.45m; D 0.13m) provided six sherds and 11 sherds respectively. About 2.5m S of these two sherds were retrieved from a shallow oval pit (dims 0.76m c 0.4m; D 0.1m). The largest pit (dims 2.67m x 1.87m; D 0.44m) was c. 33m to the SE and had an uneven base but its layers of brown clay over orange/brown clayey sand produced 26 sherds of Neolithic pottery from two vessels. Just N of this pit was a group of six postholes and a stakehole in a rough NW-SE line (L c. 8m). (Lyne 2010, 5-6)
Compiled by: Michael Moore
Date of upload: 23 March 2022
References
Keith, S. 2005 M3 Clonee-North of Kells; Contract 4, Navan - Kells and Kells Bypass. Report on Archaeological Assessment at Testing Area 3 in Phoenixtown, County Meath. Licence: 04E0926. Unpublished report, Irish Archaeological Consultancy
Lyne, E. 2010 M3 Clonee – North of Kells, Contract 4, Navan to Kells and Kells Bypass. Final Report on Phoenixtown 1, Co. Meath. Licence: E003128. Unpublished report, Irish Archaeological Consultancy
Nearby in the register
- Fulacht fiaunder 1 mi
- Fulacht fiaunder 1 mi
- Pitunder 1 mi
- Structureunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.