Excavation - miscellaneous

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on a fairly level landscape, c. 100m from a small N-S stream to the E and c. 100m from a small W-E stream to the S. Identified in centre-line testing (10E0299) in Area 7 of the N5 Ballaghaderreen bypass as an area of c. 100 sq m with numerous small pits, one of which produced prehistoric pottery were recovered in small area. It was set aside for further work as Toobrackan 4. (Janes and Delaney 2010b, 8-9)
There was further excavation (10E0383) when nine features, either post-holes or small pits (diam. c. 0.7-1m; D 0.15-0.25m) cut into the sandy clay subsoil were recorded. They were filled with brown or black silty clay, and produced C14 dates in the early Neolithic period (3900-3500 BC) (Delaney et al 2016, 82). This is in perfect accord with the sherds of two or three carinated Neolithic bowls that were recovered. (Kyle and Delaney 2011j; Kyle 2013f; Delaney at al. 2016)

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of revised upload: 11 August, 2017

References

Kyle, J. 2013f Toobrackan 4: group of pits. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations 2010: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 185, No. 587. Dublin. Wordwell.

Janes, T. and Delaney, S. 2010b N5 Ballaghaderreen bypass. Townlands: Coolaghtane, Ballyoughter and Toobrackan, Co. Roscommon. Irish Archaeological Consultancy. Unpublished report, National Monuments Service, Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. Licence no. 10E0299.

Kyle, J. and Delaney, S. 2011j N5 Ballaghaderreen bypass. Toobrackan 4. Group of pits. Final report. Irish Archaeological Consultancy. Unpublished report, National Monuments Service, Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. Licence no. 10E0383

Delaney, S., J. Kyle and D. Bayley 2016 Working the margin. The archaeology of the N5 Ballaghaderreen Bypass road project. Journal of the County Roscommon Historical and Archaeological Society, vol. 13, 81-7.