N7 Naas Road Widening and Interchanges Scheme Site Name: Killhill 4, Co. Kildare Licence Number: 03E1573 NGR: 295184/223351 Bronze Age Ringditch Final Report On behalf of Kildare County Council Licensee: Elizabeth Connolly January 2011 N7 Naas Road Widening and Interchanges Scheme Killhill 4, 03E1573, Final Report PROJECT DETAILS N7 Naas Road Widening and Interchanges Project Scheme Licence Number 03E1573 Excavation Director Elizabeth Connolly Senior Archaeologist Jon Harrison Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd, 120b Greenpark Road, Consultant Bray, Co. Wicklow Client Kildare County Council Site Name Killhill 4 Site Type Bronze Age Ringditch Townland(s) Killhill Parish Kill County Kildare NGR (easting) 295184 NGR (northing) 223351 Height OD (m) 110m RMP No. KD020:001 (in vicinity of) Excavation Dates 3–11 November 2003 Project Duration October 2003 – June 2004 Report Type Final Report Date January 2011 Report By Elizabeth Connolly and Tim Coughlan Connolly, E. and Coughlan, T. Killhill 4, Report Reference 03E1573, Final Report. Unpublished Report for IAC Ltd. Bray 2011. Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd i N7 Naas Road Widening and Interchanges Scheme Killhill 4, 03E1573, Final Report ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This final report has been prepared by Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd in compliance with the excavation Licence Number 03E1573 issued to Elizabeth Connolly by the National Monuments Service of the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the terms of the Contract between Kildare County Council and Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd. KILDARE NRDO Sylvia Desmond and Noel Dunne, Project Archaeologists, Kildare NRDO, Naas. Declan Bowles Resident Engineer, Kildare County Council. NATIONAL MONUMENTS, DOEHLG Archaeologist – Martin Reid IRISH ANTIQUITIES DIVISION, NATIONAL MUSEUM OF IRELAND Assistant Keeper – Nessa O’Connor ii Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd N7 Naas Road Widening and Interchanges Scheme Killhill 4, 03E1573, Final Report ABSTRACT Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd (IAC), funded by the National Roads Authority (NRA) through Kildare County Council, undertook an excavation at the site of Killhill 4 along the proposed N7 Naas Road Widening and Interchanges Scheme (Figure 1). The following report describes the results of archaeological excavation at that site. The area was fully excavated by Elizabeth Connolly under Licence Number 03E1573 issued by the DOEHLG in consultation with the National Museum of Ireland for IAC. An area c. 30 m by 30 m was stripped of topsoil by mechanical excavator and was subsequently excavated by hand. The excavation of Killhill 4 (Licence Number 03E1573) took place from 3 to 11 November 2003. Excavation revealed the remains of a circular ditch measuring c. 6.3 m in internal diameter. There were several cremation pits both cutting the interior as well as cutting the ditch. Two of the pits contained pottery. The site has been dated to the late Bronze Age by radiocarbon dating of two samples. Typological analysis of the pottery has confirmed that it is also of late Bronze Age date. The site at Killhill 4 is important locally as it forms part of a cluster of sites at the base of Killhill which indicate a continuing funerary tradition from the Bronze Age through to the Iron Age. This tradition is centred on the nearby recorded monument KD020- 001. The site at Killhill 4 is also of significance regionally as the presence of late Bronze Age domestic vessels within the cremation pits expands the distribution pattern in the mid Leinster region. Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd iii N7 Naas Road Widening and Interchanges Scheme Killhill 4, 03E1573, Final Report CONTENTS PROJECT DETAILS.....................................................................................................I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................................II ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................III 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................1 1.1 Site location .................................................................................................1 1.2 The scope of the project ..............................................................................1 1.3 Circumstances and dates of fieldwork .........................................................1 1.4 Methodology ................................................................................................2 2 EXCAVATION RESULTS.....................................................................................4 2.1 Phase 1 Natural Drift Geology .....................................................................4 2.2 Phase 2 Bronze Age Ringditch and Associated Pits ...................................4 2.3 Phase 3 Secondary Activity .........................................................................6 2.4 Topsoil .........................................................................................................8 3 SYNTHESIS..........................................................................................................9 3.1 The Archaeological Landscape....................................................................9 3.2 Typological Background of Ringditches.....................................................13 3.3 Summary of the Excavation Results..........................................................14 4 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS .................................................................16 5 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................18 5.1 References.................................................................................................18 5.2 Other Sources............................................................................................19 APPENDIX 1 CATALOGUE OF PRIMARY DATA....................................................I Appendix 1.1 Context Register...............................................................................i Appendix 1.2 Catalogue of Artefacts....................................................................iv Appendix 1.3 Archive Index...................................................................................v Appendix 1.4 Sample Register.............................................................................vi APPENDIX 2 SPECIALIST REPORTS ................................................................. VII Appendix 2.1 Prehistoric Pottery Report – Eoin Grogan and Helen Roche ...........i Appendix 2.2 Human Cremated Bone Analysis – Maeve Tobin ......................... vii Appendix 2.3 Radiocarbon Dating Results – QUB Laboratory.............................iv APPENDIX 3 LIST OF RMP IN AREA .................................................................. VII FIGURES PLATES iv Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd N7 Naas Road Widening and Interchanges Scheme Killhill 4, 03E1573, Final Report List of Figures Figure 1 03E1573 Killhill 4 Site location Figure 2 03E1573 Killhill 4 RMP map showing sites in the vicinity Figure 3 03E1573 Killhill 4 Site specific location within proposed development Figure 4 03E1573 Killhill 4 Plan of site Figure 5 03E1573 Killhill 4 Sections List of Plates Plate 1 03E1573 Killhill 4 Pre-ex of site from W Plate 2 03E1573 Killhill 4 SW facing section of ditch, C4/C5 Plate 3 03E1573 Killhill 4 Detail of pot 03E1573:9:1-14, from SW Plate 4 03E1573 Killhill 4 Pit C10 Mid excavation (left) and Pit C8 (right) after removal of pot 03E1573:9:1-14 from NE Plate 5 03E1573 Killhill 4 C17 and C18. S-facing section Plate 6 03E1573 Killhill 4 C12 and C13, N-facing section Plate 7 03E1573 Killhill 4 C26 and C27 prior to excavation showing base of pot (03E1573:4) at top of fill Plate 8 03E1573 Killhill 4 C28 and C29, W-facing section Plate 9 03E1573 Killhill 4 C20 and C21, E-facing section Plate 10 03E1573 Killhill 4 Post-excavation, from W Plate 11 03E1573 Killhill 4 Bronze Age Domestic vessel 03E1573:9:1−14 Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd v N7 Naas Road Widening and Interchanges Scheme Killhill 4, 03E1573, Final Report 1 INTRODUCTION This final report presents the results of the excavation carried out in the townland of Killhill, Co. Kildare. It is based on the direct stratigraphic relationships recorded on site and the results of specialist analysis of artefacts and samples from the site. The works formed part of an archaeological mitigation program associated with the N7 Naas Road Widening and Interchanges Scheme, Contract 2; Kill Village to Rathcoole, south Co. Dublin. Archaeological fieldwork was directed by Elizabeth Connolly of Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd. (IAC Ltd.) and was funded by Kildare County Council and the National Roads Authority. 1.1 Site location Killhill 4, Co. Kildare was identified during Linear and Offset Testing carried out by Elizabeth Connolly for IAC Ltd (Licence Number 03E1731). It consisted of potential archaeological features as follows: - a curvilinear feature roughly forming a circle, - two linear tangential features, one running westwards, the other eastwards, from the circle. • Killhill 4, Licence Number 03E1573 • Townland: Killhill • Parish: Kill • Barony: South Salt • County: Kildare • NGR 295184/223351 The site was located north of the N7 in undulating pasture, with a general rise to higher ground to the south. 1.2 The scope of the project General The development consisted of The