ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATION OF SITE 113 CLOGHVALLY UPPER 2 Ch17.640 N2 CARRICKMACROSS-ACLINT ROAD RE-ALIGNMENT ON BEHALF OF MONAGHAN COUNTY COUNCIL AND THE NATIONAL ROADS AUTHORITY LICENCE NUMBER: 04E0115 LICENSEE: FINTAN WALSH 20TH JULY 2006 IRISH ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONSULTANCY LTD Site 113, Carrickmacross - Aclint Road Re-alignment Final Report EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd. (IAC Ltd.), funded by Monaghan County Council and the National Roads Authority, completed a c. 225m² excavation in the townland of Cloghvally Upper c. 2km to the northeast of Carrickmacross in advance of the construction of the 8.137km N2 Carrickmacross-Aclint Road Re-alignment (main chainage 9.863 – 18.320; Figure 1). The excavations were undertaken to ensure all subsoil archaeological remains were preserved by record in advance of groundwork. At Ch 17.640, an area of burnt stone (a small fulacht fiadh) measuring 5m by 5m was recorded. It is located beside a small river. The previously unknown site had been discovered during a programme of archaeological monitoring undertaken in December 2003-June 2004 (Licence 04E0089). The site was identified on the 14th January 2004. Excavations at Cloghvally Upper 2 took place between 16th January and 26th January 2004. Irish Archaeological Consultancy i Site 113, Carrickmacross - Aclint Road Re-alignment Final Report CONTENTS List of Figures List of Plates 1 Introduction 1 1.1 General 1 1.2 Results from Monitoring 1 1.3 Site Location 1 1.4 Site Specific 2 1.5 The Development 2 2 Archaeological and Historical Background 3 3 The Excavation 8 3.1 Methodology 8 3.2 Excavation Results 8 3.3 Discussion 9 4 Potential of the Data 10 4.1 Realisation of the Original Research Aims 10 5 References 11 6 Acknowledgements 13 Figures Plates Appendices Appendix 1: Contexts Appendix 2: Site Matrix Appendix 3: Charcoal ID Report Appendix 4: Radiocarbon Dating Report Irish Archaeological Consultancy ii Site 113, Carrickmacross - Aclint Road Re-alignment Final Report List of Figures: Figure 1 Site 113, Cloghvally Upper 2, general site Location Figure 2 Site 113, Cloghvally Upper 2 showing RMP sites with OS background Figure 3 Site 113, Cloghvally Upper 2, location of site within development Figure 4 Site 113, Cloghvally Upper 2, detail of archaeology Figure 5 Section of burnt mound deposit (C3) List of Plates: Plate 1 Site looking northeast, during excavation with Monanny 1 in background Plate 2 Burnt mound (C3) during excavation, looking south Irish Archaeological Consultancy iii Site 113, Carrickmacross - Aclint Road Re-alignment Final Report 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 General Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd. (IAC Ltd.), funded by Monaghan County Council and the National Roads Authority, completed an excavation in the townland of Cloghvally Upper c. 2km to the northeast of Carrickmacross in advance of the construction of the 8.137km N2 Carrickmacross-Aclint Road Re-alignment (main chainage 9.863 – 18.320; Figure 1). The excavations were undertaken to ensure all subsoil archaeological remains were preserved by record in advance of groundwork. The site was identified as a result of a programme of topsoil stripping undertaken by IAC Ltd. in December 2003-June 2004 (Monitoring Licence 04E0089, Fintan Walsh). This monitoring area was between chainage 16.880 – 17.680. The site was identified on the 14th January 2004. Excavations at Cloghvally Upper 2 took place between 16th January and 26th January 2004. 1.2 Results from monitoring At Ch 17.640, an area of burnt stone (a small fulacht fiadh) measuring 5m by 5m was recorded. It is located beside a small river called the Longfield River. 1.3 Site location The site is located mid way between two other burnt mounds excavated on the N2 Carrickmacross – Aclint Realignment during the summer of 2003. The first burnt mound was part of the Site 110 Monanny 1 excavation (03E0888) and the second was part of Site 111, Monanny 2 (03E1254). Site 110: Monanny 1: Ch17.600 – 17.680 This site was mainly a habitation site consisting of three well preserved Neolithic structures (houses). However, there was a burnt mound/fulacht fiadh on the northern side of the adjacent stream at 17.640. This burnt mound/fulachta fiadh material consisted of an area c. 20m x 4m containing a thick deposit of blackened soils and stones which was exposed towards the river on the south-western part of the site. This is typical ‘fulachta fiadh’ material and it overlay a trough that filled naturally with ground water. In the base of the trough was a waterlogged oak ‘plank’ held firm by large stones. The wood, which is in fairly good condition, showed some signs for being re-worked for its use in the trough. A sample of this wood was dated to the Early-Middle Bronze Age (Walsh forthcoming (a)). Site 111: Monanny 2: Ch17.625 A burnt mound/fulacht fiadh was located adjacent to, and on the northern side of the river. The site consisted of an area of burnt mound material measuring approximately 10m x 10m x maximum of 0.30m deep. Beneath the burnt material were two hearths, a large posthole, and two troughs. The main trough had a base of 14 waterlogged planks with associated vertical pegs. The vertical pegs were in poor condition and few in number but may have been the basis for an upright wattle lining. A section of one of the timbers from the trough, (Timber 10 (ash)) was selected for radiocarbon dating. This dates this site to the Middle/Late Bronze Age (Walsh forthcoming (b)). In addition to these sites, Site 109, Cloghvally Upper 1 (Ch17.500) consisted of a small, Early Medieval cemetery (Walsh forthcoming (c)). Irish Archaeological Consultancy 1 Site 113, Carrickmacross - Aclint Road Re-alignment Final Report 1.4 Site Specific At Ch 17.640 there was evidence of an area of heat fractured stone and charcoal rich clay. This was located at the meander of, and on the southern bank of a small river called the Longfield River. The material uncovered was indicative of waste material from fulachta fiadh/burnt mounds, a site type which is traditionally attributed to the Bronze Age (2200BC – 600BC). 1.5 The Development Monaghan County Council proposes to realign the N2 between Aclint and Carrickmacross. The scheme will also include ancillary road junctions and other structures. As currently understood, the realignment will be 8.137km of centre line chainage from Ch 9.863 – Ch 18.000 and will commence at the existing N2 at Aclint, c.6km to the south-east of Carrickmacross and run to c. 2km to the north-east of Carrickmacross. The construction works will include: 7 junctions 7 bridges Road realignments The route corridor varies in width from 40m to 175m (not including side roads). The archaeological areas of potential have been calculated to total around 70 hectares out of a total route area of c. 90 hectares. Irish Archaeological Consultancy 2 Site 113, Carrickmacross - Aclint Road Re-alignment Final Report 2 ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The following archaeological and historical background refers to the wider archaeological landscape through which the N2 Carrickmacross-Aclint Road Re- alignment passes. Carrickmacross is situated in the south-east of Co. Monaghan, in the low lying midlands, surrounded by small lakes and rivers, and straddles the townlands of Drummond Etra, Cloghvally Upper, Lurgans, Mullanarry, Lisanisk and Drummond Otra. 2.1 General Prehistoric Period (7000 BC-AD400) With the exception of Cloghvally Upper 2 and the sites described in Section 2.2, evidence for known prehistoric activity in the immediate area of the development is sparse, with very few sites or finds being noted. The first settlers of the Monaghan area were Neolithic farmers, who left a number of burial monuments in the form of court-tombs, portal-tombs and wedge-tombs across the county and created settlements such as that found at Monanny 1 (Cf. Section 2.2). The site of a dolmen or portal tomb, a Neolithic burial consisting of a massive roofstone resting on two tall uprights and a backstone overlying a stone chamber containing a burial, is situated c. 4km northwest of the town. A flint scraper was also discovered close to the town. Four miles southeast of Cloghvally Upper 2 a rock art site has recently been investigated. This site at Drumirril, south of Inishkeen, was subject to geo-physical investigations and test trenching. A concentration of rock art was present in the area. Geophysics suggest the presence of an enclosure and associated features. Test trenching confirmed the presence of post-holes and Early - Middle Neolithic pottery (Blaze O’Connor, pers. comm.). Evidence for Bronze Age settlement can be found throughout Monaghan with flat cemeteries, cist and pit burials in abundance, although it is not well represented in the Carrickmacross area. Stray finds from the crannόg (MO031:083) in Monalty Lough c. 700m southeast of the town suggest that the lakes rather than the land may have been occupied by Bronze Age settlers in the area. The Monalty Lough crannóg finds include a bronze halberd, axehead, dagger and harness rings. Early Medieval Period (AD 400-1169) Crannógs or lake dwellings are normally associated with the Early Medieval period, although artefacts have revealed occupation as early as the Bronze Age and as late as the Post-Medieval period. The surrounding lakes of Spring Lough, Monalty Lough and Lough Fea contain a number of Crannógs and the large amount of prehistoric and Early Medieval material found in Monalty, indicates that the pattern of earlier prehistoric lake settlement lasted for a long period close to Carrickmacross. There is some evidence for land occupation of the Carrickmacross area from the late Iron Age and Early Medieval period also.