Newlands Cross Upgrade EIS - European Investment Bank

South Dublin County Council N7 Newlands Cross Upgrade
Appendices
• Multi-period site (2002:0462,00E0538)
Further excavations were carried out at Ballymount Great, Co. Dublin, as a result of final
modifications of the detail of the proposed Luas line. Previous excavations had been carried out at the
site by Geraldine Stout in 1982, Malachy Conway in 1997 (Excavations 1997, No. 79, 97E0316) and
John Ó Néill in 2000 (Excavations 2000, No. 205, 00E0538). These had examined the eastern part of a
large ditched enclosure that was threatened by the proposed Luas line. Excavation had demonstrated
that a bank with internal ditch was present, enclosing a stepped mound. Finds of 10th–13th-century
date had been retrieved from the upper fills but no indicator of the construction date other than the
presence of ferrous material near the base. The 2002 excavations took place because of the problem of
accommodating a course for an existing stream. This led to the excavation of an area measuring c.
40m by 15m adjoining the previously excavated sections.
A range of features identified during the excavation have been assigned a general date on the basis of
their relationship with the enclosure.
Pre-enclosure activity
Two areas of activity pre-dated the enclosure of the site: a burnt mound at the northern end of the site
and a ditch at the southern end. In the northernmost area that was excavated, a pit and a small spread
of heat-shattered stone and charcoal were uncovered and appear to have been sealed by a layer of iron
pan. This iron pan seems to coincide with the location of an outer bank noted in the previous
excavations. Determination of the exact relationship will rest on the radiocarbon dating of materials
from both the burnt mound and the enclosure ditch. At the southern end of the site, part of the arc of a
ditch (F1031) was truncated by a series of features, including an extension of the main enclosure ditch.
The excavated section traced an arc measuring c. 8.68m (internally), with a depth of 0.7m. If this
represents a larger feature, it suggests a circular enclosure of c. 27.5m internal diameter (c. 31.3m
external diameter). Without supporting data, this is a fairly tentative hypothesis, although burnt bone
was recovered from the basal fill, suggesting that this ditch may be part of a ring-barrow.
The main enclosure ditch (F1002)
Excavation of the main enclosure ditch demonstrated the existence of a medieval recutting of this
feature. The basal fill of the ditch was a sedimentised peat with a high content of visible organic
remains, including twigs, seeds, sedges, rushes, leaf litter, insects and other decaying detritus. This fill
was present to a depth of c. 0.3m. The recorded fills, although waterlogged, are paralleled by the dry
fills encountered in the previous excavations to the south-east. The upper fills of the main enclosure
ditch were truncated by a later recut, and only this later ditch could be traced extending into the area
excavated in previous campaigns.
A further ditch adjoined the main enclosure ditch; this was found to contain the same upper fill and is
considered to have been open for at least part of the time that the main ditch was open. This suggests
that there may have been an entrance here, breaking the ditch on the axis of a pool (indicated on the
first- and second-edition OS maps) and the mound. On the basis of the morphology of the enclosure
(inner ditch, outer bank), this phase is tentatively dated to the Iron Age.
Ditch F1010 and the recut of the main enclosure ditch
When the main enclosure ditch had become silted up, a further ditch was opened across the northern
part of the site (F1010). This was cut by a medieval recut of the main enclosure ditch, at a time when
F1010 had fully silted up. No relationship was clearly established with the original enclosure ditch,
although it is assumed that it pre-dates F1010. An 11th-century ringed pin from the fill of this feature
supports this hypothesis.
A number of definite medieval features were identified across the site. The recut of the main ditch
occurred when the ditch had fully silted up. In section, the ditch was V-shaped, with sharply sloping
sides, particularly at the top, and a 1m-wide base. The ditch was a maximum of 1.95m deep. An 11mlong
part of the ditch was fully excavated. The upper fills of the recut ditch contained Dublin-type
wares.
Arup Consulting Engineers
December 2007