Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland
Hearth
Portan (dunboyne By.), County Meath, Ireland
The record
- Townland
- Portan (dunboyne By.)
- County
- Meath
- Country
- Ireland
- First-edition OS map
- Not indicated
- Latest-edition OS map
- Not indicated
- Coordinates
- 53.41600, -6.43119
- SMR number
- ME051-073----
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
Shown on 4 historical map sheets, the earliest the 1790 "Composite: Ireland." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).
This record in the National Monuments Service's Historic Environment Viewer ↗
The National Monuments Service's description
Archaeological monitoring (15E0577) by P. Duffy, D. Bayle and J. Whitaker of topsoil stripping over a large area (c. 92 ha.) conducted intermittently between Dec. 2015 and October 2018 uncovered 37 locations of potential archaeological importance (excavations.ie 2016:051). Each of these was further investigated by the same archaeologists under different licences. At Site 18, excavated (16E0196) by D. Bayley (excavations.ie 2016:542), three pits (dims 0.98m x 0.59m; D 0.1m: 0.69m x 0.55m; D 0.08m: 1.1m x 0.96m; D 0.38m) in a small area (dims 30m E-W; 10m E-W) were recorded. They had fills of silty clays with charcoal and evidence of fire-reddening of the bases so they were probably hearths. No artefacts were recovered but a piece of oak charcoal from one of the hearths provided a C14 date of 3315-2919 cal. BC (FTMC-HR36-17), placing it in the Early Neolithic. (Duffy et. al. 2021, 5-6)
Compiled by: Michael Moore
Date of upload: 26 April, 2023
Duffy, P., Fairhead, S. & F. Fleeshouven 2021 Final Excavation Report for Sites 3-37, Clonee, Portan, Gunnocks, Co. Meath. Multiple licences, Unpublished report, Irish Archaeological Consultancy
Nearby in the register
- Pitunder 1 mi
- Field boundaryunder 1 mi
- Burnt spreadunder 1 mi
- Pitunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.