Excavation - miscellaneous

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated in a gently undulating landscape. Archaeological testing (04E0925) by J. Roynane (2005) at Testing Area 2 of Contract 4 of the M3 motorway identified archaeological material (excavations.ie 2004:1245) that was excavated (E003122) by C. Duffy (2010) as Grange 4 in June to August 2006 (excavations.ie 2007:1323) when just over 2,100 square metres were opened and two Neolithic pits, this arc of a ditch and a concentration of pits, postholes and stakeholes were recorded, but the features are not contemporary. A single curving ditch (L 6.8m; Wth 0.8-1.2m; D 0.2m) forms an arc (Chord 5m E-W) that tapers at either end and is open to the N. It was filled with two layers of brown silty clay with a greater amount of charcoal in the upper layer, but no artefacts were recovered. The environmental evidence showed the presence of barley and oats as well as hazel and alder, and it may have been the waste of corn-drying operations. A small pit (diam. 0.7m; D 0.15m) on the line of the continuation of the E arm of the ditch provided a C14 date of 666-772 cal. AD (UBA 11126), but it is not directly related to the ditch as is the case with another small pit and posthole in the area. (Duffy 2010, 9-11)

See the attached plan from Duffy (2010, fig. 6)

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 25 March 2022

References

Duffy, C. 2010 M3 Clonee – North of Kells, Contract 4, Navan to Kells and Kells Bypass. Final Report on Archaeological Excavation of Grange 4, Co. Meath. Licence: E003122. Unpublished report, Irish Archaeological Consultancy

Roynane, J. 2005 M3 Clonee-North of Kells; Contract 4, Navan - Kells and Kells Bypass. Report on Archaeological Assessment at Testing Area 2 in Grange, County Meath. Licence: 04E0925. Unpublished report, Irish Archaeological Consultancy