N11 RATHNEW TO ARKLOW ROAD IMPROVEMENT NMSR No.: E3204 SITE A022/019 NGR: 327444/179244 TOWNLAND: BALLYMOYLE COUNTY: WICKLOW FINAL REPORT ON BEHALF OF WICKLOW COUNTY COUNCIL AND THE NATIONAL ROADS AUTHORITY YVONNE WHITTY JUNE 2009 N11 Rathnew to Arklow Road Improvement E3204 Final Report Ballymoyle A022/019 ABSTRACT This site was located in the townland of Ballymoyle, c. 5km northwest of Arklow, Co. Wicklow. The archaeological excavation was carried out by Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd. on behalf of Wicklow County Council and the National Roads Authority in advance of the construction of the N11 Rathnew to Arklow Road Improvement. The site was initially identified during archaeological testing carried out by IAC Ltd. under the same contract during August 2005. The testing revealed a pit measuring 1m by 0.7m that contained black silty soil with frequent charcoal inclusions along with possible ash and flecks of fire-reddened clay. Subsequent excavation confirmed the presence of this pit and identified a further pit to the northeast. Both of these pits are believed to be related to burnt mound activity. The excavation area measured 24m by 22m (528m²). A large amount of flint artefacts were found at this site and sent for specialist analysis. Based on typological and technological assessment, the assemblage was found to show predominantly Neolithic traits. A single sherd of fine Beaker pottery was also recovered from this site. It was dated to Case’s style 2 pottery and is dated to c. 2450 – 2200 BC. Analysis of oak charcoal recovered from the site indicates that the local environment of the site included a wooded dry area where oak trees would have grown. It is difficult to attribute a function to the charcoal identified on site but it may be representative of fuel used at the site in conjunction with activities associated with the pits. It is interpreted that the activity recorded on this site dates to the late Neolithic/early Bronze Age based on dates returned from flint and pottery finds. This site was also located c. 70m south of Site A022/020, where the remains of a Neolithic house and associated pits and postholes were found. The activity comprised of two pits that are possibly related to burnt mound activity. Isolated pits containing later Neolithic/early Bronze Age pottery, including Beaker pottery, are not uncommon in the wider landscape and are often found without any obvious contemporary settlement activity in the immediate vicinity. Burnt mound activity in the area would not be unexpected given the marginal nature of the landscape and the number of burnt mound sites identified in close proximity. The presence of the Beaker pottery from one feature indicates that there was some small scale localised activity from this period in the vicinity of the site. This is an interesting addition to the previously scarce evidence for Beaker related activity in the region. Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd i N11 Rathnew to Arklow Road Improvement E3204 Final Report Ballymoyle A022/019 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The archaeological excavation at Ballymoyle, Co. Wicklow was carried out on behalf of Wicklow County Council and the National Roads Authority in advance of the construction of the N11 Rathnew to Arklow Road Improvement. Consulting Engineers Engineer – Halcrow Barry Consulting Engineers Resident Engineer – Steve Hannaby and Rob Merridew RDO Wicklow County Council Senior Engineer – Tom O’Leary Project Archaeologist – Noel Dunne Project Liaison Officer – Ruwelly Shenje National Monuments, DoEHLG Archaeologist – Martin Reid Irish Antiquities Division, National Museum of Ireland Keeper – Nessa O’Connor ii Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd N11 Rathnew to Arklow Road Improvement E3204 Final Report Ballymoyle A022/019 CONTENTS Abstract i Acknowledgements ii Contents iii List of Figures v List of Plates v 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Site Location 1 1.2 The Scope of the Project 1 1.3 Circumstances and Dates of Fieldwork 2 2 Archaeological Background 3 2.1 Project Location and Site Topography 3 2.2 Archaeological Landscape 3 2.2.1 Neolithic Landscape 4 2.2.2 Beaker Landscape 5 2.2.3 Bronze Age Landscape 8 2.2.4 Site Specific Archaeological Landscape 12 2.2.5 Typological Background of Burnt Mounds 13 3 Methodology 14 3.1 Introduction 14 3.2 Methodology 14 3.3 Report Production Methodology 14 4 Excavation Results 16 4.1 Group I - Natural Drift Geology 16 4.2 Group II – Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age Activity 16 4.3 Group III – Post Medieval Activity 19 4.4 Group IV – Topsoil 20 5 Synthesis and Discussion 22 5.1 Physical Setting 22 5.2 Summary of the Site Specific Archaeological Landscape 22 5.3 Summary of Excavation Results 22 5.4 Summary of the Specialist Analysis 23 5.5 Discussion 23 6 Bibliography 27 Figures Plates Appendix 1 Catalogue of Primary Data Appendix 1.1 Context Register Appendix 1.2 Artefact Catalogue Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd iii N11 Rathnew to Arklow Road Improvement E3204 Final Report Ballymoyle A022/019 Appendix 1.3 Archive Index Appendix 2 Specialist Reports Appendix 2.1 Charcoal and Wood ID Report – Ellen O’ Carroll Appendix 2.2 Lithics Report – Dr Farina Sternke Appendix 2.3 Prehistoric Pottery Report – Dr Eoghan Grogan and Helen Roche Appendix 3 List of N11 Rathnew to Arklow Road Improvement Site Names List of Figures Figure 1 Site A022/019 E3204, Site location on OS Discovery Series Background Figure 2 Site A022/019 E3204, Showing RMP and OS background Figure 3 Site A022/019 E3204, Showing detail of site within development Figure 4 Site A022/019 E3204, Post-excavation plan Figure 5 Site A022/019 E3204, Sections through [C14], [C16] and [C6] Figure 6 Site A022/019 E3204, Site Matrix Figure 7 Site A022/019 E3204, Illustration of lithic and prehistoric pottery (by Alva MacGowan) List of Plates Plate 1 Mid-excavation view of pit [C6], facing northwest Plate 2 Post-excavation view of pit [C6], facing east Plate 3 Post-excavation view of possible pit [C14], facing north Plate 4 Mid-excavation view of field drain [C16], facing southwest iv Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd N11 Rathnew to Arklow Road Improvement E3204 Final Report Ballymoyle A022/019 1 INTRODUCTION This final report provides comment and analysis on the archaeological excavation carried out in the townland of Ballymoyle, Co. Wicklow (Figure 1) as part of an archaeological mitigation program associated with the N11 Rathnew to Arklow Road Improvement. Archaeological fieldwork was directed by Yvonne Whitty of Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd. (IAC Ltd.) and was funded by Wicklow County Council and the National Roads Authority. 1.1 Site Location The site was located in Ballymoyle townland, Ennereilly parish and the barony of Arklow to the immediate east and west of the current N11, c. 5km northeast of Arklow (Wicklow OS sheet 41). The site details are: • Site Ballymoyle, Ministerial Direction No.: A022/019, NMS Registration No. E3204, Route Chainage (Ch) 2120, NGR 327444/179244 The site was identified on gently sloping ground as a result of test trenching undertaken by IAC Ltd. under the same contract in August 2005 (Ministerial Direction No.: A022/001, David Bayley). The route was divided into 14 different test areas for the initial ground testing / assessment phase. Testing revealed a pit measuring 1m by 0.70m that contained black silty soil with frequent charcoal inclusions along with possible ash and flecks of fire-reddened clay. Subsequent excavation confirmed the presence of this pit and identified a further pit to the northeast. A large amount of flint artefacts were found at the site, specialist analysis of the flint assemblage returned a Late Neolithic date (Appendix 2.2). A single sherd of fine Beaker pottery was also recovered from this site (Appendix 2.3). The excavation area measured 24m by 22m (528m²). 1.2 The Scope of the Project The proposed N11 Rathnew to Arklow Road Improvement is located between the northern limit of the N11 Arklow By-pass dual-carriageway in the townland of Ballinaskea and the southern limit of the N11 Newtownmountkennedy to Ballynabarney Road Improvement in the townland of Ballinaclogh, County Wicklow. It consists of approximately 16.3km of new dual carriageway, approximately 19km of new single carriageway local, regional and accommodation access roads, two grade separated interchanges, and several bridge/culvert river crossings. There are also a significant number of minor road realignments/modifications included in the scheme. The route commences at the northern end of the full width dual carriageway section of the N11 Arklow By-pass. It involves the widening of the existing N11 corridor on it’s eastern side as far as Scratenagh Cross Roads where it crosses the proposed mainline to run generally on-line with widening to the west side of the existing carriageway. An overbridge is proposed immediately north of Scratenagh to allow local traffic from adjacent county roads to cross over the dual carriageway. Access to existing communities and properties adjacent to the existing N11 will be maintained by the provision of an all-purpose local access road which will run parallel to the proposed dual carriageway. This all purpose road (to be called the R772) will utilise significant lengths of existing N11 carriageway, with new single carriageway constructed where required to complete the route. Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd 1 N11 Rathnew to Arklow Road Improvement E3204 Final Report Ballymoyle A022/019 The proposed dual carriageway alignment passes west of Jack White’s Cross Roads and a grade-separated interchange is proposed at this location to provide local access from the all purpose road. Continuing north the alignment follows the line of the existing N11 to Kilmurry North where the preferred route then runs off-line to the east before crossing over the existing N11 at Ballinameesda Upper adjacent to Lil Doyle’s Public House.