N7 Naas Road Widening and Interchanges Scheme Site Name: Kill Hill 2 Licence Number: 03E1569 Ringditch Final Report On behalf of Kildare County Council Licensee: Elizabeth Connolly June 2010 PROJECT DETAILS N7 Naas Road Widening and Project Interchanges Scheme Licence Number 03E1569 Excavation Director Elizabeth Connolly Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd, 120b Greenpark Road, Consultant Bray, Co. Wicklow Client Kildare County Council Site Name Kill Hill 2 Site Type Ringditch Townland Kill Hill Parish Kill County Kildare NGR (Easting) 295243 NGR (Northing) 223345 Height m OD 112 m OD RMP No. N/A Excavation Dates 27 October – 4 November 2003 Report Type Final Report Date June 2010 Report By IAC Ltd N7 Naas Road Widening and Interchanges Scheme Kill Hill 2, 03E1569 NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY This report, prepared on behalf of Kildare County Council, has been undertaken to describe the results of an excavation carried out at the site of the N7 Naas Road Widening and Interchanges Scheme, at Kill Hill (OS sheet KD020), (Figure 1). An area was fully excavated by Elizabeth Connolly under licence to the National Monuments Section of the Heritage and Planning Division, Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Licence 03E1569) for Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd. The excavation took place between 27 October and 4 November 2003. Centreline testing of the route of the proposed N7 Naas Road Widening and Interchanges Scheme was carried out by the author in August 2003 (03E1265). This resulted in the identification of archaeological remains at four adjacent locations within Kill Hill Townland. It was clear that the proposed road construction would impact negatively upon the identified archaeological remains. It was recommended that an area measuring 30m by 30m around each site be subject to a full archaeological excavation and preservation by record prior to the commencement of construction works in this area. The excavation at Kill Hill 2 revealed a penannular ditch, of probable Bronze Age date, filled with a sterile compact clay. The ditch enclosed an area c. 7m in diameter and was open on the east. There were no internal features within the enclosed area. There was one sherd of medieval pottery associated with a field drain on this site. i Irish Archaeological Consultancy N7 Naas Road Widening and Interchanges Scheme Kill Hill 2, 03E1569 CONTENTS NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY..................................................................................... I 1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................... 1 1.1 General.............................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Site Location...................................................................................................... 1 1.2 The Development .............................................................................................. 1 2 HISTORICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND............................. 2 2.1 Prehistoric Period .............................................................................................. 2 2.2 Early Medieval Period ....................................................................................... 3 2.3 Medieval Period................................................................................................. 3 2.4 Kill village .......................................................................................................... 4 2.5 Summary of Previous Fieldwork in the Study Area ........................................... 4 3 THE EXCAVATION........................................................................................... 7 3.2.1 Phase 1 - Natural Geology ................................................................................ 7 3.2.2 Phase 2 - Prehistoric Features.......................................................................... 7 3.2.3 Phase 3 – Post-Medieval Features ................................................................... 8 3.2.4 Phase 4 - Topsoil .............................................................................................. 8 4 DISCUSSION .................................................................................................... 9 4.1 General.............................................................................................................. 9 4.2 Specific.............................................................................................................. 9 5 REFERENCES................................................................................................ 11 APPENDIX 1: CONTEXTS ....................................................................................... I APPENDIX 2: SITE MATRIX.................................................................................. III APPENDIX 3: FINDS INDEX.................................................................................. IV APPENDIX 4: MEDIEVAL POTTERY REPORT ..................................................... V APPENDIX 5: SMR SITES WITHIN THE SURROUNDING AREA ...................... VIII APPENDIX 6: STRAY FINDS WITHIN THE SURROUNDING AREA ................. XIII Irish Archaeological Consultancy ii N7 Naas Road Widening and Interchanges Scheme Kill Hill 2, 03E1569 List of Figures Figure 1 03E1569 Kill Hill 2 site location Figure 2 03E1569 Kill Hill 2 RMP map showing sites in the vicinity Figure 3 03E1569 Kill Hill 2 site specific location within development Figure 4 03E1569 Kill Hill 2 post-excavation plan Figure 5 03E1569 Kill Hill 2 sections of C3 List of Plates Plate 1 Pre-excavation view of site from the south Plate 2 North-facing section of C3 and C4 Plate 3 South-facing section of C3 and C4 Plate 4 Field drain, C6 and C7, from the south Plate 5 Post-excavation view of site from the east Plate 6 Post-excavation view of site from the west iii Irish Archaeological Consultancy N7 Naas Road Widening and Interchanges Scheme Kill Hill 2, 03E1569 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 General This report, prepared on behalf of Kildare County Council, has been undertaken to describe the results of an excavation carried out at the site of the proposed N7 Naas Road Widening and Interchanges Scheme, at Kill Hill (OS Sheet 20 Kildare, Figures 1&2). The area was fully excavated by Elizabeth Connolly under licence to the National Monuments Section of the Heritage and Planning Division, Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Licence 03E1569) for Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd. The excavation took place between 27 October and 4 November 2003. The Naas Road Widening and Interchanges Scheme was essentially an improvement of the existing N7 between Maudlins Interchange and the Dublin/Kildare County boundary. The EIS for the project was carried out in November 2000, with subsequent field survey reports being undertaken in March 2001 and November 2002. Construction of the scheme commenced in autumn 2004. After consultation with the NRA Project Archaeologist, the National Monuments Section of the Heritage and Planning Division, Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government it was agreed that a programme of centreline test trenching be undertaken prior to the commencement of construction works. Concurrent with some site specific archaeological testing, as well as geophysical survey, a linear trench with offsets spaced at 25m intervals on each side was excavated across all areas of land take in an attempt to define areas of previously unrecognised potential. In Kill Hill townland, due to the proximity of Kill Hill (KD020:001) (a very large hillfort/enclosure measuring approximately 600m in diameter, located 120m south of the area of land take), the trenches were excavated at 5m intervals. In the Kill Hill region, four sites were identified as a result of centreline trenching (Figure 2). These sites have all been archaeologically resolved under individual licences (03E1570, 03E1571, 03E1573). 1.2 Site Location Kill Hill 2 was located in Kill Hill townland immediately to the south of the existing N7, and to the east of Kill village. The site was located on the lower slopes of Kill Hill where it levels out at 112 OD. The specific site location is NGR 295243/223345. • Site Kill Hill 2, Excavation Licence 03E01569. 1.2 The Development The development consisted of The Naas Road Widening and Interchanges Scheme and was essentially an improvement of the existing N7 between Maudlins Interchange and Rathcoole, in south Co. Dublin. The purpose of the scheme was to remove the existing traffic signals at Kill and Johnstown and all existing median crossing with reassigned traffic accommodated through a series of interchanges and local link roads. The scheme for Contracts 1 and 2 was approximately 8.5km in length. Contract 1 was approximately 3.4km in length and extended from the south end of the proposed scheme between the Townlands of Maudlins and Kill. Contract 2 was approximately 5.1km in length and concerned the north end of the scheme between the townlands of Kill and Hutton Read/Castlewarden. Contract 2 extended from Kill Village to the Kildare/Rathcoole, Co. Dublin, with the site located c. 450m north-east of Kill village. Irish Archaeological Consultancy 1 N7 Naas Road Widening and Interchanges Scheme Kill Hill 2, 03E1569 2 HISTORICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND The area under assessment extends approximately from Kill Townland (OS Sheet 15, Kildare) through to Maudlins Townland (OS Sheet 19, Kildare). The general area is relatively