Pit

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 Unpublished report, Irish Archaeological Consultancy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 Unpublished report, Irish Archaeological Consultancy