Archaeological Report - Gortnahown 1, Co. Cork (Ireland)

Issue 10 [ISSN 2009-2237]

Archaeological Excavation ReportE2423 - Gortnahown 1, Co. Cork

Prehistoric activity, including a Bronze age structure

Eachtra Journal

May 2011

Archaeological Excavation Report

Co Cork

Cork County Council and National Roads Authority

Julianna O'Donoghue

Gortnahown 1

EACHTRAArchaeological Projects

E No:

:

Project:

Client:

E2423

N8 Fermoy to Mitchelstown

Julianna O'DonoghueExcavation Director

Written by:

Prehistoric activity, including a Bronze age structure at

CORKThe Forge, Innishannon, Co. Cork

tel: 021 4701616 | web: www.eachtra.ie | email: [email protected]

GALWAY Unit 10, Kilkerrin Park, Liosbain Industrial Estate, Galway

tel: 091 763673 | web: www.eachtra.ie | email: [email protected]

Archaeological Excavation Report

Gortnahown 1Co Cork

Excavation Director

Julianna O'Donoghue

Written By

Julianna O'Donoghue

EACHTRAArchaeological Projects

© Eachtra Archaeological Projects 2011The Forge, Innishannon, Co Cork

Printed in Ireland

i

Table of ContentsSummary��iii

Acknowledgements�� iv

1 Scopeoftheproject�� 1

2 Routelocation�� 1

3 Receivingenvironment�� 4

4 Archaeologicalandhistoricalbackground�� 5

5 SiteLocationandTopography�� 9

6 Excavationmethodology�� 9

7 Excavationresults�� 14Area�1��14

Area�2��22

Plant�remains��23

Burnt�bone��24

Animal�bone��24

Stone�find��24

Radiocarbon�Dating��25

8 Discussion��26

9 References��29

Appendix1 StratigraphicMatrix�� 31

Appendix2 Sitematrix��46

Appendix3 Groupsandsubgroups��48

Appendix4 FindsRegister�� 55

Appendix5 PlantRemainsReport��56

Appendix6 OsteoarchaeologicalReport�� 57

Appendix7 AnimalBoneReport��63

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List of FiguresFigure1: TherouteoftheN8FermoytoMitchelstownBypassoverlainontheOrdnanceSurvey

DiscoverySeriesmap�� 2

Figure2: TherouteoftheN8FermoytoMitchelstownBypassoverlainonthefirsteditionOrd-nanceSurveymapCO010,011,019,020,027and028�� 3

Figure3: TherouteoftheN8FermoytoMitchelstownBypassoverlainontheRMPmapCO010,011,019,020,027and028�ThemapisbasedonthesecondeditionOrdnanceSurveymaps�� 6

Figure4: Post-excavationplanofGortnahown1Area1��10

Figure5: SectionofpitC�82�� 11

Figure6: Post-excavationplanofGortnahown1Area2�� 13

Figure7: Post-excavationplanofstructureatGortnahown1Area2�� 17

Figure8: SectionoffoundationtrenchesC�25,C�65andC�27��18

Figure9: SectionofpitC�28��21

Figure10: TopographicalmapshowingthelocationofGortnahown1E2423,Gortnahown2E2426andGortnahown3E2477��27

List of PlatesPlate1: ViewofGortnahown1Area1,fromsouth-west�� 12

Plate2: Post-exviewofpit(C�54)andstake-hole(C�58)Area1,fromeast�� 12

Plate3: Post-exviewofpit(C�41)Area1,fromsouth-east�� 15

Plate4: Post-excavationviewofpit(C�25)Area1,fromsouth-east�� 15

Plate5: Mid-excavationviewofhearth(C�80)Area1,fromnorth-west��16

Plate6: Post-excavationviewofpit(C�82)Area1,fromsouth-west��16

Plate7: Post-excavationviewofpit(C�88)Area1,fromnorth�� 19

Plate8: AerialviewofGortnahown1Area2,fromthenorth-east��20

Plate9: CloseraerialviewofexcavatedfeaturesinGortnahown1Area2,fromthenorth-east��20

Plate10: ViewofsaddlequernE2423:36:1��24

List of TablesTable1 DimensionsofpitsintheeasternpartofArea1�� 14

Table2 Dimensionsofhearthandpits�� 19

Table3 Dimensionsofpitsandslottrenches��22

Table4 Dimensionsofpost-holesintheinteriorofthestructure��23

Table5 Radiocarbondates��25

Table6 BronzeAgehousesontheN8FermoyMitchelstown��28

Gortnahown 1-E2423

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http://eachtra.ie/index.php/journal/e2423-gortnahown1-co-cork/

SummaryThe excavation of the site at Gortnahown 1 comprised two separate areas of excavation. A group of over 30 pits, post-holes and stake-holes were excavated in Area 1. An Early Bronze Age and an Iron Age date were returned from pits in Area 1. At Area 2 there were 26 cut features, these included six slot trenches, five pits, eight stake-holes and four post-holes, which represented the truncated remains of a Bronze Age house. A saddle quern, a small quantity of charred animal bone and a token deposit of the cremated remains of a juvenile were recovered from the Bronze Age house.

Road project name N8 Fermoy to MitchelstownSite name Gortnahown 1Ministerial Order no. A040E no. E2423Site director Julianna O’DonoghueTownland GortnahownParish GlanworthBarony Condons & ClangibbonOS Map Sheet No. CO019National Grid Reference 180714 109340

iSSUE 10: Eachtra JoUrnal - iSSn 2009-2237 archaEoloGical Excavation rEport

iv

AcknowledgementsThe senior archaeologist was John Tierney and the post-excavation managers were Penny Johnston and Jacinta Kiely. Administration of the project was by Choryna Kiely and Fiona Greene. Illustrations are by Ben Blakeman and Maurizio Toscano. Photographs are by John Sunderland, Hawkeye and Eachtra Archaeological Projects. Specialist analysis was carried out by Mary Dillon, Penny Johnston, Linda Lynch, Margaret McCarthy and the 14 Chrono Centre at Queen’s University Belfast. The project was funded by the Irish Government under the National Development Plan 2007-2013 and was commissioned by Cork County Council on behalf of the National Roads Authority. The project archaeolo-gist was Ken Hanley.

Gortnahown 1-E2423

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1 Scope of the project The archaeological works associated with the N8 Fermoy to Mitchelstown was carried out on behalf of Cork County Council, National Road Design Office, Richmond, Glanmire, Co. Cork. The project was funded by the Irish Government under the National Devel-opment Plan 2007-2013. The total archaeological cost was administered by the National Roads Authority through Cork County Council as part of the Authority’s commitment to protecting our cultural heritage. The purpose of the archaeological services project was to conduct archaeological site investigations within the lands made available, to assess the nature and extent of any potential new sites uncovered and to preserve by record those sites of agreed archaeological significance, as approved by the Department of Environ-ment, Heritage and Local Government in consultation with the National Museum of Ireland.

Phase 1 of the project (archaeological testing of the route) was carried out in October 2005 under licence 05E1150 issued by Department of the Environment Heritage and Lo-cal Government (DoEHLG). The principal aim of this phase of the project was to test for any previously unknown sites by a programme of centreline and offset testing and to test sites of archaeological potential identified in the EIS and geophysical surveying. Five Cul-tural Heritage Sites were tested under individual excavation licences 05E1122-05E1126.

Phase 2 of the project (resolution) involved the resolution of all archaeological sites identified within the proposed road corridor prior to commencement of the construction of the road. This phase of the project was carried out from September 2006 to September 2007 and excavations were conducted under the management of a Senior Archaeologist. A total of 28 sites were excavated during this phase of works under separate licences issued by DoEHLG.

A post-excavation assessment and strategy document was prepared in Phase 3 of the project to present a management strategy for dealing with post-excavation work arising from archaeological works along the route of the new N8 Fermoy to Mitchelstown. It included a proposal for post-excavation and archiving work and a budget for the works. The document detailed the location of the route, the receiving environment, the archaeo-logical and historical background, the scope of the project and the circumstances and scope of fieldwork. The document presented a scheme-wide summary of the archaeologi-cal findings, a research framework within which the findings were dealt with and a pub-lication plan and dissemination strategy for the end results.

2 Route locationThe route of the N8 Fermoy to Mitchelstown road is located in the rich pastureland of North Cork (Figures 1 and 2). The project involves the construction of c. 16 km of the N8 from Gortore north of Fermoy to Carrigane north-east of Mitchelstown. The N8 Fermoy to Mitchelstown road passes through the townlands of Gortore, Ballynacarriga, Glen-wood, Ballinglanna North, Ballinrush, Caherdrinny, Gortnahown, Ballybeg, Turbeagh,

Sligo

MayoRoscommon

Galway

Clare

Leitrim

Cavan

Longford

Westmeath

Tipperary

Limerick

Kerry

Cork

WexfordKilkenny

Carlow

Wicklow

Kildare

Dublin

Meath

Louth

Laois

Donegal Antrim

Armagh

Derry

DownFermanagh

Tyrone

Clare

Offaly

Limerick

Kerry

Cork

Waterford

Antrim

N8

Key

Townland Boundaries

Gortore 1BE2410

Gortore 2E3973

Ballynacarriga 1E2411


Ballinglanna North 1E2414




Ballinrush 1E2419

Caherdrinny 1E2420

Caherdrinny 2E2421

Caherdrinny 3E2422

Gortnahown 1E2423

Gortnahown 2E2426

Gortnahown 3E2477

Glenatluckly 1E2427

Ballynamona 2E2429

Ballynamona 1E2428

Garryleagh 1E2433

Carrigane 1E2434

Kilshanny 3E2432

Kilshanny 2E2431

Kilshanny 1E2430

Kildrum 1E3971



Gortnahown 4E3832


Gortnahown 1E2423

N

0km 2km

Prehistoric Settlement Site

Post Medieval

Early Medieval

Prehistoric Site

Burnt Mound

Non-archaeological


2

Figure1: TherouteoftheN8FermoytoMitchelstownBypassoverlainontheOrdnanceSurveyDiscoverySeriesmap�

Sligo

MayoRoscommon

Galway

Clare

Leitrim

Cavan

Longford

Westmeath

Tipperary

Limerick

Kerry

Cork

WexfordKilkenny

Carlow

Wicklow

Kildare

Dublin

Meath

Louth

Laois

Donegal Antrim

Armagh

Derry

DownFermanagh

Tyrone

Clare

Offaly

Limerick

Kerry

Cork

Waterford

Antrim

N8

Key

Townland Boundaries

Gortore 1BE2410

Gortore 2E3973







Ballinrush 1E2419

Caherdrinny 1E2420

Caherdrinny 2E2421

Caherdrinny 3E2422

Gortnahown 1E2423

Gortnahown 2E2426

Gortnahown 3E2477

Glenatluckly 1E2427

Ballynamona 2E2429

Ballynamona 1E2428

Garryleagh 1E2433

Carrigane 1E2434

Kilshanny 3E2432

Kilshanny 2E2431

Kilshanny 1E2430

Kildrum 1E3971



Gortnahown 4E3832


Gortnahown 1E2423

N

0km 2km


Post Medieval

Early Medieval

Prehistoric Site

Burnt Mound

Non-archaeological

Gortnahown 1-E2423

3


Figure2: The route of the N8 Fermoy to Mitchelstown Bypass overlain on the first edition Ordnance Survey mapCO010,011,019,020,027and028�


4

Glenatlucky, Ballynamona, Kilshanny, Corracunna, Kildrum, Garryleagh, and Carrig-ane. The townlands are located in the parishes of Kilcrumper, Glanworth and Brigown and Barony of Condons & Clangibbon, with the exception of Gortore, and Glenwood, which are located in the Barony of Fermoy.

The route begins at the northern end of the Fermoy Bypass at Gortore, c. 2km north of Fermoy, and continues northwards across the River Funshion, and to the west of the Glencorra Stream, a tributary of the Funshion, for 4 km. At Caherdrinny, it crosses over the western extremities of the Kilworth Mountains. From there it descends north-east-wards onto the broad plain that extends east and north-eastwards from Mitchelstown. It crosses the existing N8 at Gortnahown and passes to the east of Mitchelstown, crossing the R665 Mitchelstown-Ballyporeen road and links up with the N8 Cashel Mitchelstown Road at Carrigane south of Kilbeheny and 2 km west of where the borders of the Cork, Limerick and Tipperary counties meet.

3 Receiving environmentThe topography of East Cork and Waterford consists of east/west valleys separated by in-tervening ridges. The ridges consist of sandstones and mudstones of the Devonian Period (Old Red Sandstone) laid down 355-410 million years ago and the valleys of Carbonifer-ous limestones laid down 290-355 million years ago. The sediments covering many of the rocks are mainly of glacial origin deposited by glacial ice or meltwater (Sleeman et al. 1995, 1).

The landscape of the area is dominated by the Galtee Mountains to the north, the Ballyhoura Mountains to the north-west, the Kilworth Mountains to the east and the Nagles to the south. The landscape is drained by the Blackwater River, the Funshion River (which flows into the Blackwater River c. 2 km north-east of Fermoy), and the Glencorra Stream, a tributary of the Funshion River. The largest population centres in the area, Fermoy and Mitchelstown, have developed on the banks of the River Blackwater and Gradoge (a tributary of the Funshion), respectively.

The route begins at Gortore, c. 2 km north of Fermoy, at an elevation of c. 40 m OD. At Caherdrinny, it rises to its maximum elevation of c. 180 m OD as it crosses over the western extremities of the Kilworth Mountains, before descending onto the broad plain that that extends east and north-eastwards from Mitchelstown, at an elevation of 100-120 m OD.

The soils on the southern portion of the route are characterised by acid brown earths derived from mixed sandstone and limestone glacial till. These soils occur generally in the valleys of Cork and Waterford (Gardiner and Radford 1980, 61), and have a wide use range, being suitable for tillage and grass production. The soils on the western limits of Kilworth Mountains are characterised by brown podzolics derived from sandstone. The soils on the northern portion of the route are characterised by brown podzolics derived from sandstone and shale glacial till. They have a wide range of potential uses and are well

Gortnahown 1-E2423

5


suited to arable and pastoral farming (ibid., 67). Land use along the route was almost en-tirely grassland devoted to intensive dairying and cattle-rearing, with only an occasional tillage field.

4 Archaeological and historical backgroundArchaeological sites of numerous periods were discovered along the route of the new road (Figure 2). The periods are referred to as follows: Mesolithic (c. 8000 to 4000 BC), Neolithic (c. 4000 to 2000 BC), Chalcolithic (Beaker) (c. 2500-2000 BC), Bronze Age (c. 2000 to 500 BC), and Iron Age (c. 500 BC to AD 500), early medieval period (c. AD 500 to 1100), medieval period (c. AD 1100 to 1650), post-medieval period (c. AD 1650 to the present).

A number of Giant Irish Deer (Megaloceros giganteus) skulls, large antlers, antler frag-ments and various long-bones were retrieved from the clay sediments, c. 1.5 m below the peat stratum at Ballyoran Bog (04E1014) on the route of the N8 Rathcormac Fermoy. A radiocarbon date of cal BC 11201-10962 was returned for the Giant Irish Deer. Gi-ant Irish Deer are extinct but are known to have inhabited Ireland during two separate periods in the Pleistocene (from 37,000-32,000 BP and 11,750-10,950 BP), with examples from lake deposits beneath peat bogs frequently dating to the period between 11,750 BP and 10,950 BP (Woodman et al. 1997). The Ballyoran Bog examples were found in this typical location of lacustrine (lake ) sediments beneath peat and they therefore pre-date the beginnings of bog formation and the first human settlement of the area.

Mesolithic (c. 8000 to 4000 BC)The earliest known human settlement in Ireland dates from the Mesolithic period (c. 8000 BC - 4000 BC). In Munster, the majority of the evidence (flint scatters) for Meso-lithic occupation has ‘come from the Blackwater valley in Co. Cork’ (Woodman 1989, 116). Flint scatters were recorded in the townlands of Kilcummer Lower (CO034-060) on the northern bank of the Blackwater c. 13 km to the south-west of the route and in Ballynamona (CO018-099) and Wallstown (CO018-100) on the northern and southern sides of the Awbeg river respectively c. 20 km to the west of the route (Power et al. 2000, 2). Mesolithic sites and find spots were recorded on other road schemes in Co. Cork, these included; Rath-healy 3 03E1678 and Curraghprevin 3 03E1138 (N8 Rathcormac Fermoy Bypass), Ballynacarriaga 1 01E0567 (N25 Youghal Bypass), Ballinaspig More 5 01E0546 (N22 Ballincollig Bypass) and Carrigrohane 3 02E0431 (N22 BG).

Mesolithic activity was recorded on the route of the N8 Fermoy-Mitchelstown at Gortore E2410 and at Caherdrinny 3 E2422 and Mesolithic stone tools were recovered from Ballinglanna North 1 E2414, Ballinglanna North 3 E2416 and Ballinglanna North 6 E3972.

Sligo

MayoRoscommon

Galway

Clare

Leitrim

Cavan

Longford

Westmeath

Tipperary

Limerick

Kerry

Cork

WexfordKilkenny

Carlow

Wicklow

Kildare

Dublin

Meath

Louth

Laois

Donegal Antrim

Armagh

Derry

DownFermanagh

Tyrone

Clare

Offaly

Limerick

Kerry

Cork

Waterford

Antrim

N8

RMP Sheet No. CO10RMP Sheet No. CO11

MP Sheet No. CO19 RMP Sheet No. CO20

RMP Sheet No. CO27

RMP Sheet No. CO28

Key

Townland Boundaries

Gortore 1BE2410

Gortore 2E3973







Ballinrush 1E2419

Caherdrinny 1E2420

Caherdrinny 2E2421

Caherdrinny 3E2422

Gortnahown 1E2423

Gortnahown 2E2426

Gortnahown 3E2477

Glenatluckly 1E2427

Ballynamona 2E2429

Ballynamona 1E2428

Garryleagh 1E2433

Carrigane 1E2434

Kilshanny 3E2432

Kilshanny 2E2431

Kilshanny 1E2430

Kildrum 1E3971



Gortnahown 4E3832


Gortnahown 1E2423

N

0km 2km


Post Medieval

Early Medieval

Prehistoric Site

Burnt Mound

Non-archaeological


6

Figure3: TherouteoftheN8FermoytoMitchelstownBypassoverlainontheRMPmapCO010,011,019,020,027and028�ThemapisbasedonthesecondeditionOrdnanceSurveymaps�

Gortnahown 1-E2423

7


Neolithic (c. 4000 to 2000 BC)The Neolithic Period is characterised by the introduction of agriculture and the begin-nings of the clearance of the woodlands. The population increased and became more sedentary in nature. A substantial Neolithic settlement site has been recorded at Lough Gur, Co. Limerick. Previously the nearest known Neolithic house was located in Pepper-hill (CO016-226/01) c. 30 km to the northwest of the route. It was recorded during the construction of the Bruff-Mallow gas pipeline (Gowen 1988, 44-51).

The material culture includes the manufacture of pottery, flint and stone arrowheads, scrapers, axes etc. The range of monuments types includes Megalithic tombs, single burial graves and stone circles. Megalithic tombs can be sub-divided into court tombs, portal tombs, passage tombs and wedge tombs. There are few wedge tombs or stone circles known from north or east Cork. Two of the exceptions are wedge tombs located at Lab-bacallee (CO027-086), which is one of the largest wedge tombs in the country, and at Manning (CO027-091) both located c. 4 km west of the N8.

Recent infrastructural work on the N8 Rathcormac to Fermoy and the Ballincollig Bypass have added significantly to the number of Neolithic sites in the county. A Neo-lithic house was excavated at Gortore (E2119), on the N8 Rathcormac to Fermoy road and another Neolithic house was excavated at Barnagore (02E0384), along the route of the Ballincollig Bypass. Both of these Cork examples produced essentially the same ra-diocarbon results (cal BC 3940-3620 at Barnagore and cal BC 3928-3655 from Gortore) and they represent the oldest known houses in the county. A single pit at Fermoy town-land (05E0078), located c. 3 km to the south of Gortore, produced 12 sherds of a Middle Neolithic Globular bowl, and another site at Curraghprevin (c.12 km south of Gortore) produced Western Neolithic (Early Neolithic) pottery and a radiocarbon date of 3090-2580 BC (Late Neolithic).

Rectangular Neolithic houses were recorded on the route of the N8 FM at Gortore 1b (E2410), Ballinglanna North 3 (E2416) and Caherdrinny 3 (E2422). A large enclosure containing several structures associated with Late Neolithic pottery was excavated at Bal-lynacarriaga 3 (E2412). Activity dating to the Neolithic was also recorded at Ballynamona 1 (E2428), Ballynamona 2 (E2429), and Gortnahown 2 (E2426) and Gortore 2 (E3973).

Bronze Age (c. 2000 to 500BC)The Bronze Age is characterised by the introduction of metallurgy and an increase in settlement and burial sites. Copper ores were mined and copper, bronze and gold items manufactured. The range of burial site types includes cist graves, pit and urn burials, cremation cemeteries, barrows, ring-ditches and wedge tombs. Stone circles and stand-ing stones also date to the Bronze Age. Both enclosed and unenclosed settlement sites are known. The most prolific Bronze Age site type is the fulacht fiadh; over 2,000 examples have been recorded in County Cork alone. These monuments survive as low mounds of charcoal rich black silt, packed with heat-shattered stones, and generally situated close to a water source. Fulachta fiadh are generally classified as ‘cooking places’, whereby stones


8

were heated in a hearth and subsequently placed in a trough of water, the water continued to boil with the addition of hot stones and wrapped food was cooked within the hot wa-ter. The trough eventually filled with small stones, ash and charcoal that were removed, forming the basis of the familiar mound.

The Bronze Age cemetery site at Mitchelstowndown West, c. 16 km to the north of Mitchelstown, contains 53 small barrows. The Discovery Programme Report 1 (Daly and Grogan 1992, 44) selected four of this group for excavation.

Until recently, Bronze Age settlement sites were a rarity in North Cork. A Bronze Age occupation site was recorded underlying the medieval ringfort Lisleagh I (CO027-158) c. 2.5 km to the west of the N8 (Power et al. 2000, 210). A house site was excavated at Killydonoghoe on the route of the N8 Glanmire-Watergrasshill Bypass (Sherlock 2003). Three circular houses dating to the Middle Bronze Age were excavated at Mitchelstown (04E1072) on the N8 Mitchelstown Relief Road. A large Bronze Age settlement site con-sisting of three circular enclosures and three circular houses was excavated in 2003 at Ballybrowney (03E1058), on the route of the N8 Rathcormac-Fermoy (Cotter 2005, 40).

Bronze Age round houses were recorded on the route of the N8 Fermoy – Mitchel-stown at Kilshanny 1 (E2432) and Ballynamona 2 (E2429). Burnt mounds/fulachta fiadh sites were recorded at Ballinglanna North 1 (E2414), Ballinglanna North 3 (E2416), Ball-inglanna North 6 (E3972), Ballynamona 2 (E2429), Caherdrinny 1 (E2420), Kilshanny 3 (E2432) and Kildrum 1 (E3971). Two ring ditches and associated cists and pits burials were recorded at Ballynacarriga 3 (E2412). Portions of several encrusted urns and food vessels dating to the Early Bronze Age were recorded in association with the burials. A cremation burial and associated Early Bronze Age urn were also recorded at Glenatlucky (E2427).

Iron Age (c. 500 BC to AD 500)Until the last decade there was little evidence of a significant Iron Age presence in the Cork region. Settlement sites are few and far between as well as being difficult to identify (Woodman, 2000) while the material culture of this period is limited. Linear earthworks, believed to have marked tribal boundaries, and hillforts are two of the most visible monu-ments of the period. Recent infrastructural work on the N22 Ballincollig Bypass, the N8 Glanmire Watergrasshill Bypass and the M8 Rathcormac Fermoy has altered the picture considerably.

Three separate stretches of a linear boundary, the Claidh Dubh, have been recorded in County Cork. The longest stretch, c. 24 km in length extends from the Nagle Mountains, across the Blackwater valley and into the Ballyhoura Hills. Radiocarbon dating following excavation of a section of it revealed it dated to some time before AD100 (Doody 1995, 23).

Two of the four hillfort sites in Cork are located in North Cork (Power et al. 2000, 205). Caherdrinny (CO019:97/01&03) is located at the western end of the Kilworth Mountains, c. 700 m to the west of the N8, Corrin (CO035:49/01) is located at the east-

Gortnahown 1-E2423

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ern end of the Nagle Mountains, overlooking a pass between the Blackwater and Bride river valleys just south of Fermoy.

Iron Age dates were returned from a roundhouse at Ballinaspig More 5 01E0546, a possible bowl furnace at Curraheen 1 01E1209 and the fulacht fiadh at Curraheen 4 02E1297 on the N22 Ballincollig Bypass; the Iron Age structure at Muckridge 1 01E0429 on the N25 Youghal Bypass; iron working sites at Kilrussane 01E0701 and Trabstown 01E0501 on the N8 Glanmire Watergrasshill Bypass; the iron working site at Lisnagar De-mesne 1 03E1510, the pit at Maulane East 1 03E1286, the pit at Scartbarry 3 03E1800, the corn-drying kiln at Rath-healy 1 03E1139, the burnt mound at Fermoy Wood 04E1014 and the ring ditch at Ballybrowney Lower 3 05E0233 all on the M8 Rathcormac Fermoy.

Activity dating to the Iron Age was recorded on the route of the N8 Fermoy – Mitch-elstown at Ballinglanna North 3 E2416, Ballinglanna North 4 E2417, Ballynacarriaga 3 E2412, Gortnahown 1 E2423, Gortnahown 3 E2477 and Caherdrinny 3 E2422. The sites, with the exception of a single fire pit at Ballinglanna North 4 E2417, did not date exclusively to the Iron Age.

5 Site Location and TopographyThe site was located at the base of Kilworth Mountains at a height of 130 M OD. The The Kilworth Mountains were visible to the south, the hillfort at Caherdrinny (CO019:97/01&03) was located to the south-west and the broad Mitchelstown plain to the north.

6 Excavation methodologyThe excavation was carried out under E-Number E2423 and complied with the method statement approved by the Department of Environment, Heritage, and Local Govern-ment, in consultation with the National Museum of Ireland. The site was mechanically stripped of topsoil under strict archaeological supervision. Stripping was done with a tracked machine with a flat toothless bucket. Where appropriate mini-diggers were used, and in the larger areas to be stripped multiple large tracked machines were used; all stripping operations involved the use of multiple dumpers for topsoil mounding. Topsoil stripping commenced in the areas of identified archaeology and continued outward until the limit of the road take was reached or until the limit of the archaeological remains was fully defined. A grid was set up in the excavation area(s) and all archaeological features were sufficiently cleaned, recorded and excavated so as to enable an accurate and mean-ingful record of the site to be preserved. The excavation, environmental sampling, site photographs, site drawings, find care and retrieval, on-site recording and site archive was as per the Procedures for Archaeological works as attached to the licence method state-ments for excavation licences.

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Gortnahown 1-E2423

13


Figure6: Post-excavationplanofGortnahown1Area2�


14

The site was excavated from 14 May 2007 to 27 May 2007 and 3 September 2007 to 10 September 2007. Only areas within the CPO were resolved. The site was split into two areas. Area 1 measured 1109 m2 and Area 2 measured 728 m2. Area 1 was located 140 m to the north-east of Area 2.

7 Excavation resultsThe full record of excavated contexts is recorded in the stratigraphic index (Appendix 1) and the stratigraphic matrix (Appendix 2). Detailed stratigraphic descriptions are found in the groups and sub-groups text (Appendix 3).

Area 1At Area 1 thirty-one cut features were excavated (Figure 4, Plate 1). These included 17 pits, seven post-holes, six stake-holes and one hearth.

Cluster of pits, post-holes and stake-holesA cluster of features in the eastern extent of the site included five pits (C.41, C.62, C.25, C.60 and C.54), six post-holes (C.17, C.19, C.21, C.23, C.64 and C.66) and five stake-holes (C.42, C.47, C.56, C.57 and C.58). The collection of pits and post-holes in this part of Area 1 is the only part of the site where a discernible pattern in the archaeological remains was visible.

Pit Length Width Depth Shape in plan Associated stake-holesC.41 0.64 m 0.56 m 0.19 m Irregular C.47, C.56, C.57C.62 1.65 m 0.7 m 0.12 m IrregularC.25 0.82 m 0.7 m 0.35 m OvalC.60 1.02 m 0.56 m 0.07 m OvalC.54 1.45 m 0.74 m 0.18 m Irregular C.58

Table1DimensionsofpitsintheeasternpartofArea1

The pits were spaced in a semi-oval pattern around a central pit C.62 enclosing an area of c. 10 m sq. An Early Bronze Age date of cal BC 1728-1533 (UB-12980) was returned from the pit C.62.

The pits were oval-shaped and irregular in plan. They all contained similar fills. Two of the pits (C.41 and C.58) were associated with stake-holes: a stake-hole (C.58) was lo-cated in the base of pit C.54 (Plate 2) and a total of three stake-holes (C.47, C.56 and C.57) were located in the base and one (C.42) on the edge of pit C.41 (Plate 3).

The six post-holes, that formed part of the group, seemed to be set in pairs. Post-holes (C.64 and C.66) were located 1.4 m to the south of the central pit C.62 and the other four (C.19, C.17, C.23 and C.21) were located 2.7 m to the north (Plate 4). Post-holes C.64 and C.66 were located 1.4 m apart. While the other two pairs of posts were spaced c. 4 m apart.

Gortnahown 1-E2423

15


Plate3: Post-exviewofpit(C�41)Area1,fromsouth-east�

Plate4: Post-excavationviewofpit(C�25)Area1,fromsouth-east�


16

Plate5: Mid-excavationviewofhearth(C�80)Area1,fromnorth-west�

Plate6: Post-excavation view ofpit (C�82) Area 1, fromsouth-west�

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Gortnahown 1-E2423

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It is possible that these features together formed a small, flimsy structure and/or a work space associated with the production of food or other general domestic activities.

Peripheral hearth, pits and post-holesIn the south-western part of this area of excavation a hearth (C.80, Plate 5) was located between two large pits (C.88 and C.82). The hearth (C.80) was a sub-triangular pit with a flat base. It contained two fills (C.79 and C.89) of sandy clay with inclusions of pebbles and a lot of charcoal (particularly in the upper fill). The two pits near this hearth were irregular (C.82, Figure 5, Plate 6) and oval-shaped (C.88, Plate 7) in plan. The fills of the pits (C.82 and C.88) were charcoal-rich; they were probably used for the deposition of waste material from the hearth.

Context Length (m) Width (m) Depth (m) TypeC.80 0.88 0.85 0.14 Hearth C.82 1.9 1 0.75 PitC.88 2.1 1.85 0.64 Pit

Table2Dimensionsofhearthandpits

Two small post-holes (C.74 and C.78), which were similar in size to one another, were located to the south-east of the two pits and hearth. Post C.78 was located 2 m east of the pit C.88 and post C.74 was located 7 m to the south-east of the pit.

Plate7: Post-excavationviewofpit(C�88)Area1,fromnorth�


20

Two pits (C.68 and C.70) were located 11 m south of the eastern cluster. They were spaced 0.7 m apart. Pit C.4, small and rectangular in plan, was located 10 m to the north-east. An Iron Age date of cal BC 88 – cal AD 54 (UB-13174) was returned from pit C.4

Four pits (C.6, C.10, C.28 and C.48) and two stake-holes (C.52 and C.55) were re-corded in the northern section of the site. The two stake-holes were located to the im-

Plate8: AerialviewofGortnahown1Area2,fromthenorth-east�

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mediate east of pit C.48. Pit C.28 was the largest of the pits, it measured 2.95 m by 1.78 m and 0.42 m in depth.

Area 2The features in Area 2 are likely to represent the partial remains of a truncated Bronze Age house. A total of 23 cut features were recorded, these included six slot trenches (C.11, C.17, C.19, C.25, C.27 and C.65), five pits, (C.6, C.8, C.21, C.28 and C.37), eight stake-holes (C.50, C.53, C.55, C.58, C.60, C.64, C.68 and C.77) and four post-holes (C.3, C.13, C.16 and C.47) (Plates 8 and 9). A series of furrows, at closely spaced intervals, aligned north-south and east-west crossed the site (Figure 6). The features were clustered in the central section of the site on the edge of the area of excavation.

The Round HouseThe inner ring of the structure was defined on the eastern side by two slot trenches (C.11 and C.25). The trench C.27 was located parallel to trench C.25 and may have functioned as a drip gully for the overhang of a roof. The other three slot trenches (C.17, C.19 and C.65) were located in the area of the entrance (Figure 8). Slot C.19 was located perpen-dicular to the shorter slot C.17. The curvilinear trench (C.65) was located in the area of the entrance partially parallel and perpendicular to the structure. It had a flat base and contained six sandy silt fills (C.66, C.67, C.72, C.73, C.74 and C.75). They included peb-bles, stones, charcoal, heat affected stones and flecks of burnt bone. The third C.17 was located in between C.19 and C.65.

Context Type L x W x D (m) LocationC.6 Pit 0.7 x 0.43 x 0.43 InteriorC.8 Pit 0.9 x 0.35 x 0.15 InteriorC.11 Slot trench 3.64 x 0.8 x 0.18 FoundationC.17 Slot trench 1.69 x 0.61 x 0.14 ExteriorC.19 Slot trench 2.7 x 0.5 x 0.2 ExteriorC.21 Pit 1.25 x 0.85 x 0.36 Area of entranceC.25 Slot trench 2.9 x 0.4 x 0.2 FoundationC.27 Slot trench 3 x 0.37 x 0.2 ExteriorC.28 Hearth 1.6 x 1.12 x 0.4 InteriorC.37 Pit 1.54 x 0.84 x 0.22 InteriorC.65 Slot trench 1.9 x 0.5 x 0.2 Exterior

Table3Dimensionsofpitsandslottrenches

Four post-holes (C.3, C.13, C.16 and C.47) and four pits (C.6, C.8, C.28 and C.37) were located within the interior of the structure and one pit (C21) in the area of the en-trance. The pit C.28 is likely to be a centrally located hearth. Most of the internal features were located between the hearth and the area of the entrance. The pits varied in size and shape. Two of the pits (C.6 and C.8) were small in size. Three of the pits, including the hearth (C.21 C.28 and C.37) were mid-sized. They ranged between 1.25 m and 1.6m in length, 0.84 m and 1.12m in width and 0.22 m and 0.4 m in depth. Five fills (C.41, C.42,

Gortnahown 1-E2423

23


C.43, C.44 and C.62) were recorded I the hearth-pit. They included pebbles, charcoal, burnt clay and flecks of animal bone (Figure 9).

Three stake-holes were located in the interior. Stake-hole C.50 cut the base of post-hole C.47. Stake-hole C.58 was located on the north-western side of pit C.37 and stake-hole C.68 was located on the southern side of slot trench C.25.

Two of the post-holes (C.3 and C.47) may have been located on or inside the line of the foundations. One of the post-holes (C.16) cut through the eastern side of pit (C.6).

Context Length (m) Width (m) Depth (m)C.3 0.51 0.44 0.35C.13 0.34 0.3 0.22C.16 0.38 0.29 0.17C.47 0.34 0.23 0.1

Table4Dimensionsofpost-holesintheinteriorofthestructure

Five stake-holes (C.53, C.55, C.60, C.64 and C.77) were associated with the slot trenches. Two stake-holes (C.43 and C.55) cut the base of C.19, they were set on opposite sides of the slot. Two stake-holes (C.64 and C.77) were located in linear C.27. Stake-hole C.60 was located to the north of linear C.11. All the stake-holes were either circular or sub-circular in plan and their dimensions ranged between 0.04 m and 0.12 m in length, 0.04 m and 0.1 m in width and 0.08 m and 0.29 m in depth.

Small flecks of burnt bone were noted in the fills of eight of the pits, slot trenches and post-holes (C.6, C.11, C21, C.27, C.28, C.37, C.47 and C.65). Animal bone was identi-fied from the hearth and two of the slot trenches (C.11, C.25 and C.28). The fill (C.26) of one of the foundation slot trenches (C.27) contained the remains of burnt human bone fragments. The fragments represented a possible juvenile. A saddle quern (E2423:36:1) was recovered from a fill of the slot C.11.

The structure could have enclosed an area of 76.5 m and the internal circumference of the house could have been 31.4 m (see Figure 7). If the entrance was located in the area between the termini of trenches C.11 and C.25 it would have faced east and measured c. 2.6 m.

Agricultural furrowsA number of furrows were located in the area of the excavation (see figure 6). They were aligned north-south and east-west and were on average 0.43 m wide and 0.08 m deep. The furrows were most probably excavated by plough due to their regular shape and spacing.

Plant remainsThe plant remains from Gortnahown 1 were examined by Penny Johnston (Appendix 5). A total of nine samples were examined but no plant remains were present.


24

Burnt boneThe burnt bone from this site was examined by Linda Lynch (Appendix 6). One sample (S.15) from slot trench C.27 in Area 2 contained human remains. It was possibly a token deposit of some of the bones from the cremated body of a juvenile. The condition of the bone remains suggests that the bones were exposed for some time before burial. A similar condition was noted in the human remains examined from Caherdrinny 2 E2421. How-ever, the condition of these remains may also have been the result of local taphonomic conditions.

Animal bone The animal bone was examined by Margaret McCarthy (Appendix 7). There were four samples from Area 2 that contained small quantities of burnt bone. They were recovered from the fills of slot trenches C.11 and C.25 and the hearth C.28. Most of the burnt bone was possibly the residue from burning food waste.

Stone findA complete saddle quern (E2426:36:1) was examined by Sara Camplese (Appendix 4). It was recovered from the slot trench C.11 in Area 2 (Plate 10).

Plate10:ViewofsaddlequernE2423:36:1

Gortnahown 1-E2423

25


Radiocarbon DatingRadiocarbon analysis was carried out by the 14 Chrono Centre in Queen’s University Belfast. Dates were calibrated using Calib Rev 5.0.2 (©1986-2005 M. Stuiver & P.J. Re-imer) and in conjunction with Stuiver & Reimer 1993 and Reimer et al. 2004.

Lab code

Context Material Un-calibrated date

δ 13 C Calibrated 2-sigma date

Calibrated 1-sigma date

Period

UB-12980

61 Prunus from pit C.62 Area 1

3346+/-23 -26.8 cal BC 1728-1720 1691-1603 1589-1533

cal BC 1681-1615

Early Bronze Age

UB-13174

3 Hazel from pit C.4 Area 1

2015+/-24 -26.0 cal BC 88-76 55-cal AD 54

cal BC 44-cal AD 7 cal AD 11-17

Iron Age

Table5Radiocarbondates


26

8 DiscussionDomestic activity from the Early Neolithic Period through to the Iron Age was recorded, over a length of 850 m, along the eastern bank of the Gradoge River in five separate cut-tings at Gortnahown 1 E2426, Gortnahown 2 E2423 and Gortnahown 3 E2477 (Figure 10). With the exception of the truncated Bronze Age structure in Gortnahown 1, no defi-nite structures were recorded. But a range of hearths, pits, post-holes, stake-holes, lithic stone tools, pottery and radiocarbon dates testify to the prolonged use of the river side location through out prehistory.

At Gortnahown 1 Area 1 was located 140 m north-east of Area 2. The features in Area 1 comprised a group of over 30 pits, post-holes and stake-holes. An Early Bronze Age date and an Iron Age date were returned from the group of features. No structure was recorded, though a group of pits defining a work space, and dating to the Early Bronze Age, were clustered together in the north-east section of the site. The rest of the features were scattered across the remainder of the area.

The features in Area 2 comprised the remains of a truncated Bronze Age structure dated on typological grounds to the Bronze Age.

Bronze AgeA concentration of pits and stake-holes around a central pit C.62 in Area 1 at Gortna-hown 1, dated to the Early Bronze Age. Similar site types were recorded in Area 1 and 2 at Gortnahown 2 E2426. One of the hearth-side activities at Gortnahown 2 was associ-ated with flint knapping but there was no direct or remaining evidence for the type of domestic activity that took place at the other hearth and pit sides.

The features in Area 2 are likely to represent the partial remains of a truncated Bronze Age house, specifically the area of the entrance of the building. The front of a number of Bronze Age houses have been recorded in the last few years, including an example at Clash E3660 and Drumroe E3773 on the route of the N7 Castletown to Nenagh (Con-tract 1).

If the line of a foundation trench were projected, from the slot trenches C.11 and C.25, the structure could have enclosed an area of 76.5 m and the internal circumference of the house could have been 31.4 m. The structure was defined to the east by a founda-tion trench which probably held planks, or panels of wattle and daub, that formed the walls of the house. The entrance to the house probably faced east and measured 2.6m.

One of the external slot trenches was located perpendicular to the foundation slot trench and may have been a drip gully for the overhang of a roof. It is difficult to be cer-tain about the function of the other three external slot trenches. They were all located in the area of the entrance. Two were set perpendicular to the main circuit of the structure. The third was parallel to the main circuit and was located between the other two. They may have formed part of a porch or annex at the entrance

Four post-holes and four pits were located within the interior of the structure. One was likely to be a centrally located hearth.

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Gortnahown 1-E2423

27


Figure10:TopographicalmapshowingthelocationofGortnahown1E2423,Gortnahown2E2426andGortnahown3E2477�


28

A small sample of burnt human bone was retrieved from one of the slot trenches. The bone was possibly a token deposit of some of the bones from the cremated body of a juve-nile. Evidence of ritual deposition of bone was recorded at the entrance to two structures at Cloghabreedy (site 125.4) on the route of the N8 Cashel to Mitchelstown (McQuade 2009, 87) and in the interior of one of the structures at Derrybane E3591 in Co. Tipper-ary (McGowan 2010).

Other comparative Bronze Age houses with foundation trenches on the N8 Fermoy to Mitchelstown include excavated examples at Kilshanny 1 and Ballynamona 2.

Site/Structure E No. Area (m2) Date/PeriodKilshanny 1 E2430 65 Early Bronze AgeBallynamona 2 Structure 1 E2429 69.36 Middle Bronze AgeBallynamona 2 Structure 2 E2429 73.86 No date available

Table6BronzeAgehousesontheN8FermoyMitchelstown

The construction of the house at Kilshanny, comprised a gully that appears to have acted as a foundation trench for a plank wall and some internal support posts to hold the roof up. Another house excavated nearby at Ballynamona 2 also contained a foundation trench for planks or panels and internal post-holes for roof supports.

A recent survey of Bronze Age houses in southern Ireland lists a total of 33 round houses (Doody 2007, 86–7). The discoveries from the N8 Fermoy to Mitchelstown, one round house at Kilshanny 1 E2430, two at Ballynamona 2 E2429 and a partial round-house at Gortnahown 1 E2426 add another four houses to the list. These round houses reflect the predominant trend in the domestic architecture of the Bronze Age, but the general masks a diversity in house size, internal pattern and construction materials. In Britain there appears to be a number of regionally distinct house styles (Doody 2007, 97) but there is no established evidence for regional variation amongst Irish examples as yet. However, a pattern of axial symmetry has been recorded in several houses excavated in Tipperary and North Cork (Tierney and Johnston, 2009). A similar phenomenon has also been identified in Britain (Guilbert 1982, 68– 9; Brück 1999). These buildings were all post built.

Gortnahown 1-E2423

29


9 ReferencesBrück, J 1999 ‘Houses, lifecycles and deposition on Middle Bronze Age settlements in

Southern England’, Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, Vol. 65, 145 – 166.

Cotter, E., Buckley, K. & Drumm, M. (2006) ‘N8 Fermoy Mitchelstown Phase 1 – final archaeological testing report’, unpublished report for licence no. 05E1150.

Cotter, E. (2005) ‘Bronze Age Ballybrowney Co. Cork’, Recent Archaeological Discoveries on National Road Schemes 2004. National Roads Authority Monograph Series No. 2. Dublin.

Daly, A. and Grogan, E (1992) ‘Excavation of Four Barrows in Mitchelstowndown West, Knocklong, Co. Limerick’, Discovery Programme Reports 1. Royal Irish Academy. Dublin.

Doody, M. (1995) ‘Ballyhoura Hills project’, Discovery Programme Reports 2, 12-44. Royal Irish Academy. Dublin.

Gardiner, M.J. Radford,T. (1980) Soil Associations of Ireland and Their Land Use Potential. An Foras Talúntais.

Gowen, M. (1988) Three Irish Gas pipelines: new archaeological evidence in Munster. Wordwell. Dublin.

Guilbert, G 1982 ‘Post-ring symmetry in roundhouses at Moel y Gaer and some other sites in prehistoric Britain’, in P J Drury (ed), Structural Recognition: approaches to the interpretation of excavated remains of buildings, 67 – 86. British Archaeological Reports 110.

McGowan, L. and O’Mahony. E. (2010) Final excavation report of Derrybane 2 E3585. Unpublished report, Eachtra Archaeological Projects.

McQuade, M. Molloy, B and Moriarty, C. (2009) In the Shadow of the Galtees Archaeological Excavations along the N8 Cashel to Mitchelstown Road Scheme. National Roads Authority, Dublin.

Power, D., Lane, S. and Byrne, E., Egan, U., Sleeman, M., with Cotter, E., Monk, J. (2000) Archaeological Inventory of County Cork, Volume 4: North Cork Parts I & II. The Stationery Office. Dublin.

Reimer, P.J., Baillie, M.G.L., Bard, E., Bayliss, A., Beck, J.W., Bertrand, C., Blackwell, P.G., Buck, C.E., Burr, G., Cutler, K.B., Damon, P.E., Edwards, R.L., Fairbanks,


30

R.G., Friedrich, M., Guilderson, T.P., Hughen, K.A., Kromer, B., McCormac, F.G., Manning, S., Bronk Ramsey, C., Reimer, R.W., Remmele, S., Southon, J.R., Stuiver, M., Talamo, S., Taylor, F.W., van der Plicht, J. and Weyhenmeyer, C.E. (2004) ‘IntCal04 Terrestrial Radiocarbon Age Calibration, 0–26 Cal Kyr BP’, Radiocarbon 46, 1029-1058.

Stuiver, M., and Reimer, P.J. (1993) ‘Extended (super 14) C data base and revised CALIB 3.0 (super 14) C age calibration program’, Radiocarbon 35, 215-230.

Sherlock, R. (2003) ‘Killdonoghoe’ Bennett, I. (Ed) Excavations 2001. Wordwell. Bray.

Sleeman, A.G., & McConnell,B. (1995) Geology of East Cork-Waterford. Geological Survey of Ireland.

Tierney, J. and Johnston, P. (2009) ‘No corners! Prehistoric round houses on N8 & N7 road projects in Cork, Tipperary and Offaly,’ in Stanley, M. and O’Sullivan, J. (eds.) Dining and Dwelling. Dublin, National Roads Authority, Monograph Series No. 6.

Woodman, P. McCarthy, M. and Monaghan, N.T. 1997 ‘The Irish Quaternary Fauna Project’, Quaternary Science Reviews Vol. 16, No.2 129-159.

Woodman, P.C. (1989) ‘The Mesolithic in Munster: a preliminary assessment’. Bonsall, C. (Ed) The Mesolithic in Europe 116-124. John Donald. Edinburgh.

Woodman, P.C. (2000) ‘Hammers and Shoeboxes: New Agendas for Prehistory’. New Agendas in Irish Prehistory. Papers in commemoration of Liz Anderson 1-10. Wordwell. Bray.

.


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ium

and

coa

rse s

ub-ro

unde

d an

d ro

unde

d pe

bble

s and

cha

rcoa

l flec

ks.

0.55

x 0

.34

x 0.

28

10Pi

t Cut

99

2O

val i

n pl

an w

ith ro

unde

d co

rner

s. Br

eak

of sl

ope a

t top

is sh

arp

on N

W;

grad

ual e

lsew

here

. Sid

es a

re sm

ooth

, slo

ping

stee

ply

on N

W; g

ently

on

SW

and

mod

erat

ely el

sew

here

. Bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

bas

e is g

radu

al. B

ase i

s circ

ular

in

pla

n; p

oint

ed in

pro

file.

0.55

x 0

.34

x 0.

28

16Sp

read

12

Softl

y co

mpa

cted

dar

k gr

eyish

bro

wn

clay

ey si

lt. O

ccas

iona

l inc

lusio

ns

of m

ediu

m a

nd c

oars

e sub

-ang

ular

and

sub-

roun

ded

pebb

les.

Mod

erat

e in

clusio

ns o

f cha

rcoa

l flec

ks, s

mal

l and

med

ium

pie

ces.

1.33

x 0

.85

x 0.

05

17Po

stho

le C

ut18

182

Circ

ular

in p

lan.

Sha

rp b

reak

of s

lope

at to

p. S

ides

slop

e mod

erat

ely a

nd

are s

moo

th. B

reak

of s

lope

at b

ase i

s gra

dual

. Bas

e is c

ircul

ar in

pla

n;

conc

ave i

n pr

ofile

.

0.28

x 0

.28

x 0.

25

18Po

stho

le Fi

ll17

117

Firm

ly c

ompa

cted

mid

bro

wni

sh g

rey

sand

y sil

t. O

ccas

iona

l inc

lusio

ns

of fi

ne, m

ediu

m a

nd c

oars

e sub

-ang

ular

and

sub-

roun

ded

pebb

les a

nd

char

coal

flec

ks.

0.28

x 0

.28

x 0.

25


32

Con

text

C

onte

xt T

ype

Fill

ofFi

lled

wit

h St

rat a

bove

Stra

t bel

owSh

ort D

escr

ipti

onD

imen

sion

s (m

)19

Post

hole

Cut

2020

2C

ircul

ar in

pla

n. S

harp

bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

top.

Sid

es sl

ope s

teep

ly a

nd a

re

smoo

th. B

reak

of s

lope

at b

ase i

s gra

dual

. Bas

e is c

ircul

ar in

pla

n; c

onca

ve

in p

rofil

e.

0.15

x 0

.15 x

0.15

20Po

stho

le Fi

ll19

119

Firm

ly c

ompa

cted

dar

k gr

eyish

bro

wn

sand

y sil

t. O

ccas

iona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f su

b-an

gula

r and

sub-

roun

ded

pebb

les a

nd c

harc

oal f

lecks

. 0.

15 x

0.15

x 0

.15

21Po

stho

le C

ut22

222

Circ

ular

in p

lan.

Sha

rp b

reak

of s

lope

at to

p. S

ides

slop

e ste

eply

and

are

sm

ooth

. Bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

bas

e is g

radu

al. B

ase i

s circ

ular

in p

lan;

con

cave

in

pro

file.

0.29

x 0

.29

x 0.

19

22Po

stho

le Fi

ll21

121

Firm

ly c

ompa

cted

mid

bro

wni

sh g

rey

silt.

Occ

asio

nal i

nclu

sions

of f

ine

and

med

ium

sub-

angu

lar a

nd su

b-ro

unde

d pe

bble

s and

cha

rcoa

l flec

ks.

0.29

x 0

.29

x 0.

19

23Po

stho

le C

ut24

242

Circ

ular

in p

lan.

Sha

rp b

reak

of s

lope

at to

p. S

ides

slop

e ste

eply

and

are

sm

ooth

. Bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

bas

e is g

radu

al. B

ase i

s circ

ular

in p

lan;

con

cave

in

pro

file.

0.29

x 0

.29

x 0.

19

24Po

stho

le Fi

ll23

123

Firm

ly c

ompa

cted

mid

bro

wni

sh g

rey

sand

y sil

t. O

ccas

iona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f fin

e, m

ediu

m a

nd c

oars

e peb

bles

and

cha

rcoa

l flec

ks.

0.29

x 0

.29

x 0.

19

25Pi

t Cut

26

262

Ova

l in

plan

with

roun

ded

corn

ers.

Brea

k of

slop

e at t

op is

gra

dual

on

NE;

sh

arp

else

whe

re. S

ides

are

smoo

th, s

lopi

ng m

oder

ately

on

NE

and

steep

ly

else

whe

re. B

reak

of s

lope

at b

ase i

s gra

dual

. Bas

e is o

val i

n pl

an; f

lat i

n pr

ofile

.

0.82

x 0

.70

x 0.

35

26Pi

t Fill

251

25Fi

rmly

com

pact

ed m

id g

rey

sand

y sil

t. O

ccas

iona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f fin

e, m

e-di

um a

nd c

oars

e sub

-ang

ular

and

sub-

roun

ded

pebb

les;

smal

l sub

-ang

ular

an

d su

b-ro

unde

d sto

nes a

nd sm

all a

nd m

ediu

m c

harc

oal p

iece

s. M

oder

ate

inclu

sions

of c

harc

oal f

lecks

.

0.82

x 0

.70

x 0.

35

27Pi

t Fill

281

28Fi

rmly

com

pact

ed g

reyi

sh b

row

n sil

ty c

lay.

Freq

uent

inclu

sions

of m

ediu

m

angu

lar a

nd su

b-an

gula

r sto

nes.

Mod

erat

e inc

lusio

ns o

f coa

rse s

ub-a

ngul

ar

and

sub-

roun

ded

pebb

les.

Occ

asio

nal i

nclu

sions

of c

harc

oal f

lecks

.

2.95

x 1

.78

x 0.

42

28Pi

t Cut

2727

2O

val i

n pl

an w

ith ro

unde

d co

rner

s. Br

eak

of sl

ope a

t top

is im

perc

eptib

le on

W, S

W a

nd N

W; g

radu

al o

n N

; sha

rp el

sew

here

. Sid

es a

re ir

regu

lar,

slopi

ng g

ently

on

W; u

nder

cut,

slopi

ng v

ertic

ally

on

E; ir

regu

lar,

slopi

ng

vert

ical

ly o

n S;

and

smoo

th, s

lopi

ng m

oder

ately

on

N. B

reak

of s

lope

at

base

is g

radu

al o

n S;

impe

rcep

tible

on W

, SW

and

NW

; and

shar

p el

se-

whe

re. B

ase i

s ova

l in

plan

; con

cave

in p

rofil

e.

2.95

x 1

.78

x 0.

42

40Pi

t Fill

(pos

s)41

146

Softl

y co

mpa

cted

dar

k ye

llow

ish, g

reyi

sh b

row

n sa

ndy

silt.

Occ

asio

nal

inclu

sions

of m

ediu

m a

nd c

oars

e sub

-ang

ular

peb

bles

. Fre

quen

t inc

lusio

ns

of c

harc

oal f

lecks

, sm

all a

nd m

ediu

m p

iece

s.

0.61

x 0

.51 x

0.15


33

Con

text

C

onte

xt T

ype

Fill

ofFi

lled

wit

h St

rat a

bove

Stra

t bel

owSh

ort D

escr

ipti

onD

imen

sion

s (m

)41

Pit C

ut (p

oss)

40, 4

646

57, 4

7, 56

Irre

gula

r in

plan

with

roun

ded

corn

ers.

Brea

k of

slop

e at t

op a

nd b

ase i

s gr

adua

l on

N a

nd E

; sha

rp el

sew

here

. Sid

es a

re c

onca

ve, s

lopi

ng st

eepl

y on

W; i

rreg

ular

, slo

ping

stee

ply

on S

; and

step

ped,

slop

ing

mod

erat

ely

else

whe

re. B

ase i

s irr

egul

ar in

pla

n, fl

at in

pro

file.

0.64

x 0

.56

x 0.

19

42St

akeh

ole

(pos

s)42

421

2So

ftly

com

pact

ed y

ello

wish

gre

y sa

ndy

silt.

Occ

asio

nal i

nclu

sions

of

char

coal

flec

ks. S

ub-c

ircul

ar in

pla

n w

ith ro

unde

d co

rner

s. Sh

arp

brea

k of

slop

e at t

op. S

ides

are

con

cave

, slo

ping

stee

ply

on N

; und

ercu

t, slo

ping

ste

eply

on

S; a

nd sm

ooth

, slo

ping

ver

tical

ly el

sew

here

. Bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

ba

se is

impe

rcep

tible.

Bas

e is c

ircul

ar in

pla

n; ta

pere

d ro

unde

d po

int i

n pr

ofile

.

0.12

x 0

.11 x

0.14

45Pi

t Fill

481

48Fi

rmly

com

pact

ed d

ark

brow

n sil

ty c

lay.

Occ

asio

nal i

nclu

sions

of f

ine

angu

lar,

sub-

angu

lar a

nd su

b-ro

unde

d pe

bble

s; sm

all a

ngul

ar a

nd su

b-an

gula

r sto

nes a

nd c

harc

oal f

lecks

.

0.98

x 0

.48

x 0.

18

46Pi

t Fill

(pos

s)41

4041

Softl

y co

mpa

cted

mid

yel

low

ish b

row

n sa

ndy

silt.

Mod

erat

e inc

lusio

ns o

f co

arse

sub-

angu

lar p

ebbl

es. O

ccas

iona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f med

ium

sub-

angu

lar

pebb

les a

nd c

harc

oal f

lecks

.

0.54

x 0

.35

x 0.

10

47St

akeh

ole

(pos

s)47

4741

2So

ftly

com

pact

ed m

id y

ello

wish

gre

y sa

ndy

silt.

Occ

asio

nal i

nclu

sions

of

char

coal

flec

ks. C

ircul

ar in

pla

n. S

harp

bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

top.

Sid

es sl

ope

steep

ly a

nd a

re c

onca

ve. B

reak

of s

lope

at b

ase i

s im

perc

eptib

le. B

ase i

s ci

rcul

ar in

pla

n; ta

pere

d ro

unde

d po

int i

n pr

ofile

.

0.07

x 0

.07

x 0.

15

48Pi

t Cut

4545

2Su

b-re

ctan

gula

r in

plan

. Cor

ners

are

roun

ded

on N

and

W; s

quar

e else

-w

here

. Bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

top

is gr

adua

l on

N; s

harp

else

whe

re. S

ides

are

co

ncav

e, slo

ping

ver

tical

ly o

n W

; ste

eply

on

E; m

oder

ately

on

S an

d ge

ntly

on

N. B

reak

of s

lope

at b

ase i

s sha

rp. B

ase i

s sub

-rect

angu

lar i

n pl

an; f

lat

in p

rofil

e.

0.98

x 0

.48

x 0.

18

50Po

stho

le Fi

ll (p

oss)

551

55So

ftly

com

pact

ed d

ark

brow

n sil

t. O

ccas

iona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f cha

rcoa

l flec

ks.

0.20

x 0

.18 x

0.1

2

52St

akeh

ole

(pos

s)52

521

2So

ftly

com

pact

ed b

row

n sil

t. C

ircul

ar in

pla

n. S

harp

bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

top

and

base

. Sid

es sl

ope v

ertic

ally

and

are

smoo

th. B

ase i

s circ

ular

in p

lan;

po

inte

d in

pro

file.

0.10

x 0

.10

x 0.

09

53Pi

t Fill

5458

54So

ftly

com

pact

ed m

id b

row

n cl

ayey

silt.

Mod

erat

e inc

lusio

ns o

f fin

e su

b-an

gula

r, su

b-ro

unde

d an

d ro

unde

d pe

bble

s. O

ccas

iona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f m

ediu

m a

nd c

oars

e peb

bles

, sm

all a

ngul

ar a

nd su

b-ro

unde

d sto

nes a

nd

smal

l cha

rcoa

l pie

ces.

1.45

x 0

.74

x 0.

18


34

Con

text

C

onte

xt T

ype

Fill

ofFi

lled

wit

h St

rat a

bove

Stra

t bel

owSh

ort D

escr

ipti

onD

imen

sion

s (m

)54

Pit C

ut53

, 58

532

Irre

gula

r in

plan

. Cor

ners

are

squa

re o

n N

E, S

E an

d N

W; r

ound

ed

else

whe

re. B

reak

of s

lope

at to

p is

shar

p on

N, S

, NE

and

SW; g

radu

al

else

whe

re. S

ides

are

smoo

th, s

lopi

ng m

oder

ately

on

N; c

onca

ve, s

lopi

ng

gent

ly o

n W

; and

irre

gula

r, slo

ping

gen

tly el

sew

here

. Bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

bas

e is

grad

ual.

Base

is ir

regu

lar i

n pl

an; c

onca

ve in

pro

file.

Trun

cate

d by

C58

on

S.

1.45

x 0

.74

x 0.

18

55St

akeh

ole

(pos

s)50

502

Sub-

circ

ular

in p

lan

with

roun

ded

corn

ers.

Shar

p br

eak

of sl

ope a

t top

an

d ba

se. S

ides

slop

e ste

eply

and

are

con

cave

. Bas

e is s

ub-c

ircul

ar in

pla

n;

conc

ave i

n pr

ofile

.

0.20

x 0

.18 x

0.1

2

56St

akeh

ole

(pos

s)56

5641

2So

ftly

com

pact

ed m

id y

ello

wish

gre

y sa

ndy

silt.

Occ

asio

nal i

nclu

sions

of

char

coal

flec

ks. S

ub-c

ircul

ar in

pla

n w

ith ro

unde

d co

rner

s. Sh

arp

brea

k of

slop

e at t

op. S

ides

slop

e ste

eply

and

are

smoo

th. B

reak

of s

lope

at b

ase i

s im

perc

eptib

le. B

ase i

s circ

ular

in p

lan;

tape

red

roun

ded

poin

t in

prof

ile.

0.10

x 0

.10

x 0.

07

57St

akeh

ole

(pos

s)57

5741

2So

ftly

com

pact

ed m

id y

ello

wish

gre

y sa

ndy

silt.

Occ

asio

nal i

nclu

sions

of

char

coal

flec

ks. S

ub-c

ircul

ar in

pla

n w

ith ro

unde

d co

rner

s. Sh

arp

brea

k of

slop

e at t

op. S

ides

slop

e ste

eply

and

are

smoo

th. B

reak

of s

lope

at b

ase i

s im

perc

eptib

le. B

ase i

s circ

ular

in p

lan;

tape

red

roun

ded

poin

t in

prof

ile.

0.08

x 0

.08

x 0.

08

58St

akeh

ole

5858

153

Loos

ely c

ompa

cted

dar

k br

own

silty

sand

. Occ

asio

nal i

nclu

sions

of f

ine

pebb

les a

nd c

harc

oal f

lecks

. Circ

ular

in p

lan.

Sha

rp b

reak

of s

lope

at to

p an

d ba

se. S

ides

slop

e ver

tical

ly a

nd a

re sm

ooth

. Bas

e is c

ircul

ar in

pla

n;

tape

red

poin

t in

prof

ile. I

nclin

ed E

.

0.10

x 0

.08

x 0.

12

59Pi

t Fill

601

60Fi

rmly

com

pact

ed m

id g

reyi

sh b

row

n sa

ndy

silt.

Occ

asio

nal i

nclu

sions

of

fine

and

med

ium

sub-

angu

lar a

nd su

b-ro

unde

d pe

bble

s and

smal

l and

m

ediu

m c

harc

oal p

iece

s. M

oder

ate i

nclu

sions

of c

harc

oal f

lecks

.

1.02

x 0

.56

x 0.

07

60Pi

t Cut

5959

2O

val i

n pl

an w

ith ro

unde

d co

rner

s. G

radu

al b

reak

of s

lope

at to

p. S

ides

slo

pe g

ently

and

are

smoo

th. B

reak

of s

lope

at b

ase i

s im

perc

eptib

le. B

ase i

s ov

al in

pla

n; fl

at in

pro

file.

1.02

x 0

.56

x 0.

07

61Pi

t Fill

621

62Fi

rmly

com

pact

ed m

id g

reyi

sh b

row

n sa

ndy

silt.

Occ

asio

nal i

nclu

sions

of

fine

and

med

ium

sub-

angu

lar a

nd su

b-ro

unde

d pe

bble

s and

cha

rcoa

l fle

cks a

nd sm

all p

iece

s.

1.65

x 0

.70

x 0.

12

62Pi

t Cut

6161

2Ir

regu

lar i

n pl

an w

ith ro

unde

d co

rner

s. Br

eak

of sl

ope a

t top

is sh

arp

on

SE a

nd g

radu

al el

sew

here

. Sid

es a

re sm

ooth

, slo

ping

stee

ply

on S

E; a

nd

gent

ly el

sew

here

. Bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

bas

e is g

radu

al o

n SE

; and

impe

rcep

tible

else

whe

re. B

ase i

s irr

egul

ar in

pla

n; fl

at in

pro

file.

1.65

x 0

.70

x 0.

12


35

Con

text

C

onte

xt T

ype

Fill

ofFi

lled

wit

h St

rat a

bove

Stra

t bel

owSh

ort D

escr

ipti

onD

imen

sion

s (m

)63

Pit F

ill64

164

Firm

ly c

ompa

cted

mid

gre

yish

bro

wn

sand

y sil

t. O

ccas

iona

l inc

lusio

ns

of fi

ne a

nd m

ediu

m su

b-an

gula

r and

sub-

roun

ded

pebb

les a

nd c

harc

oal

fleck

s.

0.45

x 0

.25

x 0.

17

64Pi

t Cut

6363

2O

val i

n pl

an w

ith ro

unde

d co

rner

s. Br

eak

of sl

ope a

t top

is g

radu

al o

n SE

and

shar

p el

sew

here

. Sid

es a

re u

nder

cut,

slopi

ng v

ertic

ally

on

NW

; sm

ooth

, slo

ping

mod

erat

ely o

n SE

; and

con

cave

, slo

ping

stee

ply

else

whe

re.

Brea

k of

slop

e at b

ase i

s im

perc

eptib

le on

SE;

gra

dual

else

whe

re. B

ase i

s ci

rcul

ar in

pla

n; c

onca

ve in

pro

file.

0.45

x 0

.25

x 0.

17

65Po

stho

le Fi

ll66

166

Firm

ly c

ompa

cted

mid

bro

wn

clay

ey si

lt. O

ccas

iona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f fin

e and

m

ediu

m a

ngul

ar, s

ub-a

ngul

ar, s

ub-ro

unde

d an

d ro

unde

d pe

bble

s. M

oder

-at

e inc

lusio

ns o

f sm

all c

harc

oal p

iece

s.

0.35

x 0

.18 x

0.17

66Po

stho

le C

ut65

652

Sub-

rect

angu

lar i

n pl

an. C

orne

rs a

re ro

unde

d on

N a

nd S

; squ

are e

lse-

whe

re. B

reak

of s

lope

at to

p is

grad

ual o

n N

; sha

rp el

sew

here

. Sid

es a

re

stepp

ed, s

lopi

ng m

oder

ately

on

NW

; sm

ooth

, slo

ping

stee

ply

on N

E; a

nd

conc

ave,

slopi

ng st

eepl

y el

sew

here

. Bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

bas

e is g

radu

al o

n S,

W, S

W a

nd N

W; a

nd sh

arp

else

whe

re. B

ase i

s sub

-circ

ular

in p

lan;

co

ncav

e in

prof

ile.

0.35

x 0

.18 x

0.17

67Pi

t Fill

681

68Fi

rmly

com

pact

ed d

ark

grey

ish b

row

n sil

t. O

ccas

iona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f fin

e,

med

ium

and

coa

rse s

ub-a

ngul

ar a

nd su

b-ro

unde

d pe

bble

s.; sm

all s

ub-

angu

lar a

nd su

b-ro

unde

d sto

nes a

nd sm

all c

harc

oal p

iece

s. M

oder

ate

inclu

sions

of c

harc

oal f

lecks

.

0.50

x 0

.50

x 0.

18

68Pi

t Cut

6767

2C

ircul

ar in

pla

n. S

harp

bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

top.

Sid

es sl

ope m

oder

ately

and

ar

e con

cave

. Bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

bas

e is g

radu

al. B

ase i

s circ

ular

in p

lan;

co

ncav

e in

prof

ile.

0.50

x 0

.50

x 0.

18

69Pi

t Fill

701

70Fi

rmly

com

pact

ed d

ark

grey

ish b

row

n sil

t. Fr

eque

nt in

clusio

ns o

f med

ium

su

b-an

gula

r and

sub-

roun

ded

stone

s. M

oder

ate i

nclu

sions

of c

oars

e sub

-an

gula

r and

sub-

roun

ded

pebb

les;

smal

l sub

-ang

ular

and

sub-

roun

ded

stone

s and

cha

rcoa

l flec

ks. O

ccas

iona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f fin

e and

med

ium

sub-

angu

lar a

nd su

b-ro

unde

d pe

bble

s; an

d sm

all,

med

ium

and

larg

e cha

rcoa

l pi

eces

.

1.47

x 1

.0 x

0.3

2

70Pi

t Cut

6969

2O

val i

n pl

an w

ith ro

unde

d co

rner

s. Sh

arp

brea

k of

slop

e at t

op. S

ides

slop

e m

oder

ately

and

are

con

cave

. Bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

bas

e is g

radu

al. B

ase i

s ova

l in

pla

n; c

onca

ve in

pro

file.

1.47

x 1

.0 x

0.3

2

73Po

stho

le Fi

ll74

174

Firm

ly c

ompa

cted

mid

bro

wn

sand

y sil

t. O

ccas

iona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f fin

e su

b-an

gula

r and

sub-

roun

ded

pebb

les a

nd sm

all c

harc

oal p

iece

s. M

oder

ate

inclu

sions

of c

harc

oal f

lecks

.

0.20

x 0

.20

x 0.

17


36

Con

text

C

onte

xt T

ype

Fill

ofFi

lled

wit

h St

rat a

bove

Stra

t bel

owSh

ort D

escr

ipti

onD

imen

sion

s (m

)74

Post

hole

Cut

7373

2C

ircul

ar in

pla

n. S

harp

bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

top.

Sid

es sl

ope v

ertic

ally

and

are

sm

ooth

. Bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

bas

e is g

radu

al. B

ase i

s circ

ular

in p

lan;

con

cave

in

pro

file.

0.20

x 0

.20

x 0.

17

77Po

stho

le Fi

ll78

178

Firm

ly c

ompa

cted

mid

bro

wn

sand

y sil

t. O

ccas

iona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f fin

e and

m

ediu

m su

b-an

gula

r and

sub-

roun

ded

pebb

les.

Mod

erat

e inc

lusio

ns o

f ch

arco

al fl

ecks

, and

smal

l and

med

ium

pie

ces.

Freq

uent

inclu

sions

of l

arge

ch

arco

al p

iece

s.

0.25

x 0

.25

x 0.

32

78Po

stho

le C

ut77

772

Circ

ular

in p

lan.

Sha

rp b

reak

of s

lope

at to

p. S

ides

slop

e ver

tical

ly a

nd a

re

smoo

th. B

reak

of s

lope

at b

ase i

s gra

dual

on

N a

nd S

; sha

rp el

sew

here

. Ba

se is

ova

l in

plan

; poi

nted

in p

rofil

e.

0.25

x 0

.25

x 0.

32

79H

eart

h Fi

ll (p

oss)

801

89So

ftly

com

pact

ed m

id b

lack

sand

y cl

ay. O

ccas

iona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f fin

e an-

gula

r and

sub-

angu

lar p

ebbl

es; a

nd sm

all a

ngul

ar a

nd su

b-an

gula

r sto

nes.

Mod

erat

e inc

lusio

ns o

f cha

rcoa

l flec

ks, s

mal

l and

med

ium

pie

ces.

0.76

x 0

.72

x 0.

07

80H

eart

h C

ut

(pos

s)79

, 89

892

Sub-

tria

ngul

ar in

pla

n w

ith ro

unde

d co

rner

s. Br

eak

of sl

ope a

t top

is

impe

rcep

tible

on S

and

W; g

radu

al o

n N

E, S

E an

d N

W; s

harp

else

whe

re.

Side

s slo

pe m

oder

ately

and

are

con

vex

on N

W a

nd c

onca

ve el

sew

here

. Br

eak

of sl

ope a

t bas

e is g

radu

al o

n N

, NE

and

SE; a

nd im

perc

eptib

le el

sew

here

. Bas

e is s

ub-tr

iang

ular

in p

lan;

flat

in p

rofil

e.

0.88

x 0

.85

x 0.

14

81Pi

t Fill

821

93So

ftly

com

pact

ed d

ark

brow

nish

bla

ck si

lt. O

ccas

iona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f fin

e an

d m

ediu

m su

b-an

gula

r and

sub-

roun

ded

pebb

les.

Mod

erat

e inc

lusio

ns

of c

harc

oal f

lecks

and

smal

l pie

ces.

1.10

x 0

.15 x

0.2

0

82Pi

t Cut

81, 9

3, 9

4,

95, 9

6, 9

796

2Ir

regu

lar i

n pl

an w

ith sq

uare

cor

ners

. Sha

rp b

reak

of s

lope

at to

p. S

ides

ar

e und

ercu

t, slo

ping

ver

tical

ly o

n N

E; ir

regu

lar,

slopi

ng st

eepl

y on

NW

an

d co

nvex

, slo

ping

mod

erat

ely el

sew

here

. Bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

bas

e is s

harp

on

NE

and

NW

; and

gra

dual

else

whe

re. B

ase i

s irr

egul

ar in

pla

n; ta

pere

d po

int i

n pr

ofile

.

1.90

x 1

.0 x

0.7

5

83Pi

t Fill

881

84St

iffly

com

pact

ed m

id g

reyi

sh b

row

n sil

ty c

lay.

Mod

erat

e inc

lusio

ns o

f m

ediu

m su

b-an

gula

r and

sub-

roun

ded

pebb

les,

smal

l sub

-ang

ular

ston

es

and

smal

l cha

rcoa

l pie

ces.

1.92

x 1

.25

x 0.

19

84Pi

t Fill

8883

85Fi

rmly

com

pact

ed m

id o

rang

ish re

d sa

ndy

clay

. 1.

40 x

0.5

5 x

0.27

85Pi

t Fill

8884

86St

iffly

com

pact

ed m

id g

reyi

sh b

row

n sto

ny c

lay.

Freq

uent

inclu

sions

of

med

ium

sub-

angu

lar a

nd su

b-ro

unde

d sto

nes.

1.30

x 1

.12

x 0.

30

86Pi

t Fill

8885

87So

ftly

com

pact

ed m

id g

reyi

sh b

row

n sil

ty c

lay.

Occ

asio

nal i

nclu

sions

of

char

coal

flec

ks.

1.28

x 1

.22

x 0.

22

87Pi

t Fill

8886

88So

ftly

com

pact

ed p

inki

sh w

hite

silty

cla

y.0.

72 x

0.5

5 x

0.14


37

Con

text

C

onte

xt T

ype

Fill

ofFi

lled

wit

h St

rat a

bove

Stra

t bel

owSh

ort D

escr

ipti

onD

imen

sion

s (m

)88

Pit C

ut83

, 84,

85,

86

, 87

872

Ova

l in

plan

with

roun

ded

corn

ers.

Brea

k of

slop

e at t

op is

shar

p on

N,

W a

nd N

W; g

radu

al el

sew

here

. Sid

es a

re c

onca

ve, s

lopi

ng m

oder

ately

on

S; sm

ooth

, slo

ping

gen

tly o

n E;

and

irre

gula

r, slo

ping

stee

ply

else

whe

re.

Brea

k of

slop

e at b

ase i

s gra

dual

. Bas

e is o

val i

n pl

an; t

aper

ed b

lunt

poi

nt

in p

rofil

e.

2.10

x 1

.85

x 0.

64

89H

eart

h Fi

ll (p

oss)

8079

80So

ftly

com

pact

ed m

id b

row

n sa

ndy

clay

. Occ

asio

nal i

nclu

sions

of f

ine a

n-gu

lar a

nd su

b-an

gula

r peb

bles

; and

smal

l ang

ular

and

sub-

angu

lar s

tone

s. M

oder

ate i

nclu

sions

of c

harc

oal.

0.88

x 0

.85

x 0.

14

90Pi

t Fill

921

91Fi

rmly

com

pact

ed m

id b

row

nish

gre

y cl

ayey

silt.

Occ

asio

nal i

nclu

sions

of

smal

l sub

-ang

ular

and

sub-

roun

ded

stone

s. M

oder

ate i

nclu

sions

of m

e-di

um a

nd c

oars

e sub

-ang

ular

and

sub-

roun

ded

pebb

les a

nd c

harc

oal f

lecks

an

d sm

all p

iece

s.

1.42

x 0

.52

x 0.

16

91Pi

t Fill

9290

92So

ftly

com

pact

ed m

id o

rang

ish g

rey

clay

ey si

lt. M

oder

ate i

nclu

sions

of f

ine

and

med

ium

sub-

angu

lar a

nd su

b-ro

unde

d pe

bble

s. O

ccas

iona

l inc

lusio

ns

of c

harc

oal f

lecks

.

1.44

x 0

.52

x 0.

10

92Pi

t Cut

90, 9

191

2Ir

regu

lar i

n pl

an w

ith ro

unde

d co

rner

s. Br

eak

of sl

ope a

t top

is g

radu

al o

n SW

and

NW

; sha

rp el

sew

here

. Sid

es a

re sm

ooth

, slo

ping

mod

erat

ely o

n N

; sm

ooth

, slo

ping

gen

tly o

n W

; and

con

cave

, slo

ping

stee

ply

else

whe

re.

Brea

k of

slop

e at b

ase i

s gra

dual

on

N, W

, SW

and

NW

; sha

rp el

sew

here

. Ba

se is

irre

gula

r in

plan

; fla

t in

prof

ile.

1.44

x 0

.52

x 0.

26

93Pi

t Fill

8281

, 97

94Fi

rmly

com

pact

ed m

id b

row

n cl

ay. O

ccas

iona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f fin

e and

m

ediu

m a

ngul

ar, s

ub-a

ngul

ar a

nd su

b-ro

unde

d pe

bble

s; sm

all a

ngul

ar a

nd

sub-

angu

lar a

nd m

ediu

m a

ngul

ar st

ones

and

cha

rcoa

l flec

ks a

nd sm

all

piec

es.

1.40

x 0

.30

x 0.

38

94Pi

t Fill

8293

95So

ftly

com

pact

ed m

id b

row

nish

bla

ck si

lty c

lay.

Occ

asio

nal i

nclu

sions

of

fine s

ub-a

ngul

ar a

nd su

b-ro

unde

d pe

bble

s; sm

all s

ub-a

ngul

ar a

nd su

b-ro

unde

d an

d la

rge a

ngul

ar st

ones

and

cha

rcoa

l flec

ks a

nd sm

all p

iece

s.

0.60

x 0

.60

x 0.

08

95Pi

t Fill

8294

96So

ftly

com

pact

ed li

ght b

row

nish

yel

low

silty

sand

. Occ

asio

nal i

nclu

sions

of

fine

ang

ular

, sub

-ang

ular

and

sub-

roun

ded

pebb

les;

smal

l ang

ular

and

su

b-ro

unde

d sto

nes a

nd c

harc

oal f

lecks

.

1.04

x 0

.85

x 0.

32

96Pi

t Fill

8295

82St

iffly

com

pact

ed li

ght o

rang

ish w

hite

cla

y. O

ccas

iona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f ch

arco

al fl

ecks

. 1.

45 x

0.5

0 x

0.09

97Pi

t Fill

821

93Lo

osely

com

pact

ed li

ght o

rang

ish y

ello

w sa

nd. O

ccas

iona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f fin

e sub

-ang

ular

, sub

-roun

ded

and

roun

ded

pebb

les.

0.67

x 0

.17 x

0.3

6

98H

eart

h Fi

ll1

2So

ftly

com

pact

ed b

lack

cla

yey

silt.

Occ

asio

nal i

nclu

sions

of f

ine s

ub-a

ngu-

lar a

nd su

b-ro

unde

d pe

bble

s. 1.

0 x

1.0

x 0.

05


38

Are

a 2

Con

text

Feat

ure

Fill

ofFi

lled

wit

hSt

rat A

bove

Stra

t Bel

owSh

ort D

escr

ipti

onD

imen

sion

s (m

)

3C

ut o

f pit

4, 1

0.4

3Su

b-ci

rcul

ar in

pla

n, c

orne

rs a

re ro

unde

d; b

reak

of s

lope

at to

p is

shar

p.

Side

s are

smoo

th ,

slopi

ng v

ertic

ally.

Bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

bas

e is s

harp

on

S,

E an

d SE

and

gra

dual

else

whe

re. B

ase i

s sub

-circ

ular

in p

lan

and

conc

ave

in p

rofil

e. Tr

unca

ted

by a

nim

al b

urro

ws i

n se

vera

l pla

ces.

0.51

x 0

.44

x 0.

35

4Fi

ll of

pit

33

110

Softl

y co

mpa

cted

dar

k gr

eyish

-bro

wn

sand

y sil

t; fre

quen

t inc

lusio

ns o

f sm

all a

ngul

ar a

nd su

b-an

gula

r sto

nes,

mod

erat

e inc

lusio

ns o

f peb

bles

and

sm

all c

harc

oal p

iece

s and

occ

asio

nal i

nclu

sions

of m

ediu

m a

ngul

ar st

ones

an

d ch

arco

al fl

ecks

.

0.43

x 0

.25

x 0.

11

5Fi

ll of

pit

66

2330

Com

pact

dar

k gr

eyish

-bla

ck sa

nd; o

ccas

iona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f med

ium

an

gula

r and

sub-

angu

lar s

tone

s and

smal

l bur

nt b

one p

iece

s, fre

quen

t in

clusio

ns o

f coa

rse a

ngul

ar a

nd su

b-an

gula

r peb

bles

, sm

all a

ngul

ar a

nd

sub-

angu

lar s

tone

s and

cha

rcoa

l flec

ks a

nd sm

all p

iece

s and

mod

erat

e in

clusio

ns o

f bur

nt b

one f

lecks

.

0.52

x 0

.44

x 0.

35

6C

ut o

f pit

5, 2

3, 3

030

2Su

b-ov

al in

pla

n, ro

unde

d co

rner

s, sh

arp

brea

k of

slop

e at t

op. S

ides

are

un

derc

ut, s

lopi

ng v

ertic

ally

on

N a

nd S

and

smoo

th, s

lopi

ng v

ertic

ally

el

sew

here

. Bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

bas

e is g

radu

al. B

ase i

s ova

l in

plan

and

flat

in

pro

file.

Trun

cate

d by

pos

sible

post

hole,

C.1

6, at

E.

0.70

x 0

.43

x 0.

43

7Fi

ll of

pit

88

18

Softl

y co

mpa

cted

mid

to d

ark

grey

ish-b

row

n sli

ghtly

sand

y sil

t; oc

casio

n-al

inclu

sions

of m

ediu

m a

nd c

oars

e ang

ular

peb

bles

and

cha

rcoa

l flec

ks.

0.90

x 0

.35

x 0.

15

8C

ut o

f pit

77

2O

val i

n pl

an. S

W si

de is

irre

gula

r, slo

ping

gen

tly, N

E an

d SE

are

smoo

th,

slopi

ng m

oder

ately

. Bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

bas

e is g

radu

al. B

ase i

s ova

l in

plan

an

d fla

t in

prof

ile.

0.90

x 0

.35

x 0.

15

9Fi

ll of

pit

1111

7136

Firm

ly c

ompa

cted

dar

k gr

eyish

-bro

wn

silty

cla

y; fr

eque

nt in

clusio

ns o

f co

arse

ang

ular

and

sub-

angu

lar p

ebbl

es a

nd sm

all a

ngul

ar a

nd su

b-an

gula

r sto

nes,

occa

siona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f med

ium

ang

ular

and

sub-

angu

lar

stone

s and

mod

erat

e inc

lusio

ns o

f cha

rcoa

l flec

ks a

nd sm

all p

iece

s.

1.12

x 0

.80

x 0.

14

10Fi

ll of

pit

33

43

Firm

ly c

ompa

cted

mid

pin

kish

-bro

wn

sand

y sil

t; m

oder

ate i

nclu

sions

of

fine

and

med

ium

ang

ular

and

sub-

angu

lar p

ebbl

es a

nd o

ccas

iona

l in

clusio

ns o

f coa

rse a

ngul

ar a

nd su

b-an

gula

r peb

bles

, sm

all a

ngul

ar a

nd

sub-

angu

lar s

tone

s and

cha

rcoa

l flec

ks a

nd sm

all p

iece

s.

0.48

x 0

.42

x 0.

25


39

Con

text

Feat

ure

Fill

ofFi

lled

wit

hSt

rat A

bove

Stra

t Bel

owSh

ort D

escr

ipti

onD

imen

sion

s (m

)11

Cut

of l

inea

r pi

t9,

33,

12,

36

, 45.

36, 4

5, 1

2.2

Line

ar in

pla

n, ro

unde

d co

rner

s; br

eak

of sl

ope a

t top

is sh

arp

on N

E,

NW

, SE

and

E an

d gr

adua

l else

whe

re. S

ides

are

smoo

th, s

lopi

ng m

oder

-at

ely o

n E

and

gent

ly el

sew

here

. Bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

bas

e is g

radu

al. B

ase i

s ov

al in

pla

n an

d fla

t in

prof

ile. T

runc

ated

by

furr

ow, C

.71

at S

W-S

E of

pi

t.

3.64

x 0

.80

x 0.

18

12Fi

ll of

pit

1111

7111

Stiff

dar

k gr

eyish

-bro

wn

clay

ey si

lt; o

ccas

iona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f sm

all a

ngul

ar

and

sub-

angu

lar s

tone

s and

mod

erat

e inc

lusio

ns o

f med

ium

and

coa

rse

angu

lar a

nd su

b-an

gula

r peb

bles

and

cha

rcoa

l flec

ks a

nd sm

all p

iece

s.

0.84

x 0

.80

x 0.

09

13C

ut o

f po

stho

le14

142

Ova

l in

plan

, rou

nded

cor

ners

; sha

rp b

reak

of s

lope

at to

p. S

ides

slop

e ve

rtic

ally

and

are

smoo

th to

con

cave

in sh

ape.

Brea

k of

slop

e at b

ase i

s gr

adua

l. Ba

se is

ova

l in

plan

and

flat

in p

rofil

e.

0.34

x 0

.30

x 0.

22

14Fi

ll of

pos

t-ho

le 13

131

13W

eakl

y ce

men

ted

mid

bro

wni

sh-g

rey

silty

sand

; occ

asio

nal i

nclu

sions

of

fine

and

coa

rse s

ub-a

ngul

ar p

ebbl

es a

nd sm

all c

harc

oal p

iece

s and

m

oder

ate i

nclu

sions

of m

ediu

m a

ngul

ar a

nd su

b-an

gula

r peb

bles

and

ch

arco

al fl

ecks

.

0.34

x 0

.30

x 0.

22

15Fi

ll of

pos

t-ho

le 16

161

16C

ompa

ct m

id g

rey

silty

sand

; fre

quen

t inc

lusio

ns o

f coa

rse s

ub-a

ngul

ar

and

sub-

roun

ded

pebb

les,

occa

siona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f med

ium

sub-

angu

lar

and

sub-

roun

ded

pebb

les a

nd m

oder

ate i

nclu

sions

of f

ine s

ub-a

ngul

ar

and

sub-

roun

ded

pebb

les a

nd c

harc

oal f

lecks

.

0.38

x 0

.29

x 0.

17

16C

ut o

f po

stho

le15

1523

Ova

l in

plan

, cor

ners

are

roun

ded.

Bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

top

is sh

arp.

Sid

es a

re

smoo

th, s

lopi

ng st

eepl

y on

S a

nd v

ertic

ally

else

whe

re. B

reak

of s

lope

at

base

is g

radu

al. B

ase i

s ova

l in

plan

and

con

cave

in p

rofil

e.

0.38

x 0

.29

x 0.

17

17C

ut o

f pit

1818

2Su

b-re

ctan

gula

r in

plan

, rou

nded

cor

ners

, sha

rp b

reak

of s

lope

at to

p an

d ba

se. S

ides

are

con

cave

, slo

ping

gen

tly o

n N

and

mod

erat

ely el

sew

here

. Ba

se is

ova

l in

plan

and

flat

in p

rofil

e.

1.69

x 0

.61

x 0.

14

18Fi

ll of

pit

1717

117

Softl

y co

mpa

cted

ligh

t bro

wn

silty

cla

y; m

oder

ate i

nclu

sions

of f

ine s

ub-

angu

lar a

nd su

b-ro

unde

d pe

bble

s and

occ

asio

nal i

nclu

sions

of m

ediu

m

sub-

angu

lar a

nd su

b-ro

unde

d pe

bble

s, sm

all s

tone

s and

cha

rcoa

l flec

ks

and

smal

l pie

ces.

1.69

x 0

.61

x 0.

14

19C

ut o

f lin

ear

feat

ure

20, 3

2.20

54Li

near

in p

lan,

shar

p br

eak

of sl

ope a

t top

. Sid

es a

re sm

ooth

, slo

ping

ste

eply

on

N a

nd v

ertic

ally

else

whe

re. B

reak

of s

lope

at b

ase i

s gra

dual

. Ba

se is

ova

l in

plan

and

flat

in p

rofil

e. Tr

unca

ted

by fu

rrow

, C.3

1 on

SW

.

2.70

x 0

.50

x 0.

20

20Fi

ll of

line

ar

feat

ure 1

919

3119

Com

pact

dar

k br

own

stony

sand

; fre

quen

t inc

lusip

ons o

f coa

rse a

ngul

ar

pebb

les a

nd m

ediu

m a

nd la

rge a

ngul

ar st

ones

and

mod

erat

e inc

lusio

ns o

f ch

arco

al fl

ecks

and

smal

l pie

ces.

2.70

x 0

.50

x 0.

20


40

Con

text

Feat

ure

Fill

ofFi

lled

wit

hSt

rat A

bove

Stra

t Bel

owSh

ort D

escr

ipti

onD

imen

sion

s (m

)21

Cut

of p

it22

, 34,

35.

352

Ova

l in

plan

, rou

nded

cor

ners

, gra

dual

bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

top

and

base

. Si

des a

re c

onca

ve, s

lopi

ng m

oder

ately

on

NW

and

stee

ply

else

whe

re. B

ase

is ov

al in

pla

n an

d co

ncav

e in

prof

ile. T

runc

ated

by

furr

ow, C

.51, a

t S.

1.25

x 0

.85

x 0.

36

22Fi

ll of

pit

2121

5134

Firm

ly c

ompa

cted

mid

gre

yish

-bro

wn

silty

cla

y; fr

eque

nt in

clusio

ns

of c

oars

e sub

-ang

ular

peb

bles

and

smal

l sub

-ang

ular

ston

es, m

oder

ate

inclu

sions

of c

harc

oal f

lecks

, sm

all p

iece

s and

bur

nt b

one f

lecks

and

oc-

casio

nal i

nclu

sions

of s

mal

l bur

nt b

one p

iece

s.

0.95

x 0

.85

x 0.

10

23Fi

ll of

pit

66

165

Com

pact

dar

k gr

ey sa

nd; o

ccas

iona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f coa

rse a

ngul

ar a

nd

sub-

angu

lar p

ebbl

es, s

mal

l cha

rcoa

l pie

ces a

nd b

urnt

bon

e flec

ks a

nd

mod

erat

e inc

lusio

ns o

f sm

all a

ngul

ar a

nd su

b-an

gula

r sto

nes a

nd c

har-

coal

flec

ks.

0.37

x 0

.35

x 0.

20

24Fi

ll of

line

ar

feat

ure 2

525

148

Softl

y co

mpa

cted

dar

k br

owni

sh-b

lack

sand

y sil

t; oc

casio

nal i

nclu

sions

of

fine

and

med

ium

ang

ular

and

sub-

angu

lar p

ebbl

es, s

mal

l ang

ular

and

su

b-an

gula

r sto

nes a

nd m

ediu

m c

harc

oal p

iece

s, m

oder

ate i

nclu

sions

of

smal

l cha

rcoa

l pie

ces a

nd fr

eque

nt in

clusio

ns o

f coa

rse a

ngul

ar a

nd su

b-an

gula

r peb

bles

and

cha

rcoa

l flec

ks.

2.80

x 0

.30

x 0.

18

25C

ut o

f lin

ear

feat

ure

48, 2

4.48

2Li

near

in p

lan,

roun

ded

corn

ers;

shar

p br

eak

of sl

ope a

t top

. Sid

es a

re

smoo

th, s

lopi

ng m

oder

ately

on

W, s

teep

ly o

n N

and

ver

tical

ly el

sew

here

. Br

eak

of sl

ope a

t bas

e is s

harp

on

W, N

E an

d N

W a

nd g

radu

al el

sew

here

. Ba

se is

irre

gula

r in

plan

and

has

a ta

pere

d po

int i

n pr

ofile

.

2.90

x 0

.40

x 0.

20

26Fi

ll of

line

ar

feat

ure 2

727

127

Softl

y co

mpa

cted

dar

k br

owni

sh-g

rey

pebb

ly, sa

ndy

silt;

frequ

ent i

nclu

-sio

ns o

f ang

ular

and

sub-

angu

lar p

ebbl

es, c

harc

oal f

lecks

and

smal

l pi

eces

, mod

erat

e inc

lusio

ns o

f sm

all a

ngul

ar a

nd su

b-an

gula

rsto

nes a

nd

occa

siona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f med

ium

cha

rcoa

l pie

ces a

nd b

urnt

bon

e flec

ks.

3 x

0.37

x 0

.20

27C

ut o

f lin

ear

feat

ure

2626

29Li

near

in p

lan,

roun

ded

corn

ers;

brea

k of

slop

e at t

op is

gra

dual

on

W

and

shar

p el

sew

here

. Sid

es a

re c

onca

ve, s

lopi

ng m

oder

ately

on

N, v

erti-

cally

on

SE a

nd g

ently

on

SW a

nd W

, and

step

ped,

slop

ing

vert

ical

ly at

to

p an

d m

oder

ately

at b

ase o

n E.

Bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

bas

e is g

radu

al o

n N

an

d im

perc

eptib

le el

sew

here

. Bas

e is l

inea

r in

plan

and

con

cave

in p

rofil

e.

3 x

0.37

x 0

.20

28C

ut o

f pos

-sib

le pi

t41

, 42,

43,

44

, 62

432

Ova

l in

plan

, rou

nded

cor

ners

, sha

rp b

reak

of s

lope

at to

p. S

ides

are

un-

derc

ut, s

lopi

ng v

ertic

ally

on

N, S

and

W a

nd sm

ooth

, slo

ping

mod

erat

ely

on E

. Bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

bas

e is s

harp

on

S an

d SW

, gra

dual

on

N, W

and

N

W a

nd im

perc

eptib

le el

sew

here

. Bas

e is i

rreg

ular

in p

lan

and

irreg

ular

in

pro

file.

1.60

x 1

.12

x 0.

40


41

Con

text

Feat

ure

Fill

ofFi

lled

wit

hSt

rat A

bove

Stra

t Bel

owSh

ort D

escr

ipti

onD

imen

sion

s (m

)29

Dep

osit

272

Wea

kly

cem

ente

d to

com

pact

nid

ora

ngish

-gre

y sil

ty sa

nd; f

requ

ent

inclu

sions

of f

ine s

ub-a

ngul

ar a

nd su

b-ro

unde

d pe

bble

s, m

oder

ate i

nclu

-sio

ns o

f med

ium

and

coa

rse s

ub-a

ngul

ar a

nd su

b-ro

unde

d pe

bble

s and

oc

casio

nal i

nclu

sions

of s

mal

l sub

-ang

ular

and

sub-

roun

ded

stone

s and

ch

arco

al fl

ecks

.

3 x

0.60

x 0

.20

30Fi

ll of

pit

66

56

Com

pact

ligh

t ora

ngish

-bro

wn

silty

sand

; occ

asio

nal i

nclu

sions

of f

ine

angu

lar a

nd su

b-an

gula

r peb

bles

and

cha

rcoa

l flec

ks.

0.40

x 0

.30

x 0.

35

31C

ut o

f fu

rrow

3232

2Li

near

in p

lan,

squa

re c

orne

rs; s

harp

bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

top

and

base

. Sid

es

slope

mod

erat

ely a

nd a

re c

onca

ve. B

ase i

s sub

-rect

angu

lar i

n pl

an a

nd fl

at

in p

rofil

e.

18.1

0 x

0.43

x 0

.08

32Fi

ll of

fur-

row

31

311

31Fi

rmly

com

pact

ed m

id b

row

n cl

ayey

silt;

occ

asio

nal i

nclu

sions

of f

ine

and

med

ium

peb

bles

and

smal

l sto

nes.

18.1

0 x

0.43

x 0

.08

33Fi

ll of

pit

1111

7136

Firm

ly c

ompa

cted

dar

k gr

eyish

-bro

wn

clay

ey si

lt; m

oder

ate i

nclu

sions

of

fine

and

med

ium

sub-

angu

lar a

nd su

b-ro

unde

d pe

bble

s and

cha

rcoa

l fle

cks a

nd o

ccas

iona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f bur

nt b

one f

lecks

.

1.61

x 0

.80

x 0.

06

34Fi

ll of

pit

2121

2235

Firm

ly c

ompa

cted

mid

gre

yish

-bro

wn

stony

, silt

y cl

ay; f

requ

ent i

nclu

-sio

ns o

f coa

rse s

ub-a

ngul

ar p

ebbl

es a

nd sm

all s

ub-a

ngul

ar st

ones

, mod

er-

ate i

nclu

sions

of c

harc

oal f

lecks

and

smal

l pie

ces a

nd o

ccas

iona

l inc

lu-

sions

of b

urnt

bon

e flec

ks a

nd sm

all p

iece

s.

1.05

x 0

.75

x 0.

18

35Fi

ll of

pit

2121

3421

Firm

ly c

ompa

cted

mid

bro

wni

sh-g

rey

stony

, silt

y cl

ay; f

requ

ent i

nclu

-sio

ns o

f coa

rse s

ub-a

ngul

ar p

ebbl

es a

nd sm

all s

ub-a

ngul

ar st

ones

.0.

87 x

0.6

2 x

0.12

36Fi

ll of

pit

1111

9, 3

3.45

, 11.

Firm

ly c

ompa

cted

mid

gre

yish

-bro

wn

clay

ey si

lt; o

ccas

iona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f m

ediu

m a

nd c

oars

e ang

ular

and

sub-

angu

lar p

ebbl

es, c

harc

oal f

lecks

and

bu

rnt b

one f

lecks

.

2.60

x 0

.63

x 0.

08

37C

ut o

f pit

38, 3

9.38

2O

val i

n pl

an, r

ound

ed c

orne

rs; s

harp

bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

top.

Sid

es sl

ope

steep

ly a

nd a

re c

onca

ve. B

reak

of s

lope

at b

ase i

s gra

dual

. Bas

e is o

val i

n pl

an a

nd fl

at in

pro

file.

1.54

x 0

.84

x 0.

22

38Fi

ll of

pit

3737

3937

Com

pact

, dar

k gr

ey si

lty sa

nd; f

requ

ent i

nclu

sions

of c

oars

e ang

ular

and

su

b-an

gula

r peb

bles

, mod

erat

e inc

lusio

ns o

f fin

e ang

ular

and

sub-

angu

lar

and

med

ium

sub-

angu

lar p

ebbl

es a

nd c

harc

oal f

lecks

and

smal

l pie

ces

and

occa

siona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f sm

all s

ub-a

ngul

ar st

ones

, med

ium

cha

rcoa

l pi

eces

and

bur

nt b

one f

lecks

.

1.54

x 0

.84

x 0.

22

39Fi

ll of

pit

3737

138

Stiff

, dar

k br

owni

sh-g

rey

sand

y sil

t; oc

casio

nal i

nclu

sions

of f

ine a

nd

med

ium

sub-

angu

lar p

ebbl

es a

nd c

harc

oal f

lecks

and

smal

l pie

ces.

1.10

x 0

.84

x 0.

15


42

Con

text

Feat

ure

Fill

ofFi

lled

wit

hSt

rat A

bove

Stra

t Bel

owSh

ort D

escr

ipti

onD

imen

sion

s (m

)40

Spre

ad1

41So

ftly

com

pact

ed m

id to

dar

k gr

eyish

bro

wn

sand

y sil

t; oc

casio

nal i

nclu

-sio

ns o

f coa

rse s

ub-a

ngul

ar p

ebbl

es a

nd c

harc

oal f

lecks

and

mod

erat

e in

clusio

ns o

f med

ium

sub-

angu

lar p

ebbl

es, s

mal

l cha

rcoa

l pie

ces a

nd

fleck

s and

smal

l pie

ces o

f oxi

dise

d m

ater

ial.

1 x

0.65

x 0

.10

41Fi

ll of

pit

2828

4044

Very

softl

y co

mpa

cted

mid

bla

ck sa

ndy

silt;

frequ

ent i

nclu

sions

of s

mal

l sto

nes,

mod

erat

e inc

lusio

ns o

f peb

bles

and

occ

asio

nal i

nclu

sions

of c

har-

coal

flec

ks.

1.10

x 0

.90

x 0.

19

42Fi

ll of

pit

2828

6243

Softl

y co

mpa

cted

dar

k bl

ack

sand

y sil

t; oc

casio

nal i

nclu

sions

of c

oars

e pe

bble

s, m

ediu

m a

ngul

ar st

ones

, sm

all s

tone

s, sm

all c

harc

oal p

iece

s and

po

ssib

le bu

rnt b

one f

lecks

and

mod

erat

e inc

lusio

ns o

f fin

e and

med

ium

pe

bble

s and

cha

rcoa

l flec

ks.

1.39

x 1

.10

x 0.

35

43Fi

ll of

pit

2828

4228

Softl

y co

mpa

cted

ligh

t gre

yish

-bro

wn

sand

y sil

t; oc

casio

nal i

nclu

sions

of

pebb

les a

nd sm

all a

ngul

ar a

nd su

b-an

gula

r sto

nes.

0.90

x 0

.60

x 0.

15

44Fi

ll of

pit

2828

4162

Com

pact

mid

pin

kish

-bro

wn

sand

y cl

ay; o

ccas

iona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f fin

e an

d m

ediu

m a

ngul

ar p

ebbl

es.

0.47

x 0

.23

x 0.

13

45Fi

ll of

pit

1111

3611

Softl

y co

mpa

cted

mid

bro

wn

clay

ey si

lt; o

ccas

iona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f fin

e sub

-an

gula

r peb

bles

, cha

rcoa

l flec

ks a

nd sm

all c

harc

oal p

iece

s.0.

31 x

0.5

4 x

0.06

46Fi

ll of

pit

4747

147

Com

pact

dar

k gr

eyish

-bro

wn

sand

; mod

erat

e inc

lusio

ns o

f fin

e ang

ular

an

d su

b-an

gula

r peb

bles

, occ

asio

nal i

nclu

sions

of b

urnt

bon

e flec

ks a

nd

frequ

ent i

nclu

sions

of c

harc

oal f

lecks

.

0.34

x 0

.23

x 0.

10

47C

ut o

f pit

4646

49Ir

regu

lar i

n pl

an, r

ound

ed c

orne

rs, s

harp

bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

top.

Sid

es

slope

ver

tical

ly a

nd a

re sm

ooth

. Bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

bas

e is g

radu

al. B

ase i

s irr

egul

ar in

pla

n an

d irr

egul

ar in

pro

file.

0.34

x 0

.23

x 0.

10

48Fi

ll of

line

ar

feat

ure 2

525

2425

Fria

ble l

ight

yel

low

ish-b

row

n sa

ndy

silt;

occa

siona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f fin

e and

m

ediu

m a

ngul

ar a

nd su

b-an

gula

r peb

bles

and

cha

rcoa

l flec

ks.

2.90

x 0

.30

x 0.

20

49Fi

ll of

stak

e-ho

le 50

501

50C

ompa

ct d

ark

brow

n sa

nd; o

ccas

iona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f fin

e ang

ular

peb

bles

an

d ch

arco

al fl

ecks

.0.

06 x

0.0

6 x

0.09

50C

ut o

f sta

keho

le49

492

Circ

ular

in p

lan,

shar

p br

eak

of sl

ope a

t top

. Sid

es a

re sm

ooth

, slo

ping

ve

rtic

ally.

Bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

bas

e is g

radu

al. B

ase i

s circ

ular

in p

lan

and

ha

s a ta

pere

d bl

unt p

oint

in p

rofil

e. Tr

unca

ted

by p

it, C

.47.

0.06

x 0

.06

x 0.

09

51C

ut o

f Fu

rrow

52

52Fi

ll of

fur-

row

51

51


43

Con

text

Feat

ure

Fill

ofFi

lled

wit

hSt

rat A

bove

Stra

t Bel

owSh

ort D

escr

ipti

onD

imen

sion

s (m

)53

Cut

of

stake

-hol

e54

542

Circ

ular

in p

lan,

shar

p br

eak

of sl

ope a

t top

. Sid

es sl

ope v

ertic

ally.

Bre

ak

of sl

ope a

t bas

e is g

radu

al. B

ase i

s circ

ular

in p

lan

and

conc

ave i

n pr

ofile

. Tr

unca

ted

by li

near

feat

ure (

C.19

).

0.05

x 0

.05

x 0.

08

54Fi

ll of

stak

e-ho

le 53

5319

53C

ompa

ct m

id b

row

n sil

ty sa

nd; o

ccas

iona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f peb

bles

and

ch

arco

al.

0.05

x 0

.05

x 0.

08

55C

ut o

f sta

keho

le56

562

Circ

ular

in p

lan,

shar

p br

eak

of sl

ope a

t top

. Sid

es a

ll slo

pe v

ertic

ally.

Br

eak

of sl

ope a

t bas

e is g

radu

al. B

ase i

s circ

ular

in p

lan

and

conc

ave i

n pr

ofile

.

0.04

x 0

.04

x 0.

11

56Fi

ll of

stak

e-ho

le 55

551

55C

ompa

ct li

ght b

row

n sil

ty sa

nd; o

ccas

iona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f peb

bles

and

ch

arco

al.

0.04

x 0

.04

x0.11

57La

yer

58C

ut o

f sta

keho

le59

592

Ova

l in

plan

, sha

rp b

reak

of s

lope

at to

p. S

ides

slop

e ste

eply

and

are

ir-

regu

lar o

n E,

und

ercu

t on

W, s

moo

th o

n N

and

step

ped

on S

. Bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

bas

e is g

radu

al; b

ase i

s circ

ular

in p

lan

and

has a

tape

red

roun

ded

poin

t in

prof

ile.

0.12

x 0

.07

x 0.

12

59Fi

ll of

stak

e-ho

le 58

581

58So

ftly

com

pact

ed d

ark

oran

gish

-gre

y sa

ndy

silt;

frequ

ent i

nclu

sions

of

fine a

nd m

ediu

m a

ngul

ar p

ebbl

es a

nd c

harc

oal f

lecks

and

smal

l pie

ces.

Incl

ined

E.

0.12

x 0

.07

x 0.

12

60C

ut o

f sta

keho

le61

612

Circ

ular

in p

lan,

shar

p br

eak

of sl

ope a

t top

. Sid

es sl

ope v

ertic

ally.

Bre

ak

of sl

ope a

t bas

e is g

radu

al. B

ase i

s circ

ular

in p

lan

and

conc

ave i

n pr

ofile

. Tr

unca

ted

by fu

rrow

, C.51

, on

N.

0.05

x 0

.05

x 0.

12

61Fi

ll of

stak

e-ho

le 60

6051

60Fi

rmly

com

pact

ed m

id g

reyi

sh-b

row

n sil

ty c

lay.

0.05

x 0

.05

x 0.

12

62Fi

ll of

pit

2828

4442

Har

d lig

ht y

ello

wish

-bro

wn

sand

y sil

t.1.

61 x

0.1

2 x

0.07

63Fi

ll of

stak

e-ho

le 64

6427

64Ve

ry so

ftly

com

pact

ed d

ark

oran

gish

-bro

wn

sand

y sil

t; m

oder

ate i

nclu

-sio

ns o

f fin

e ang

ular

peb

bles

and

cha

rcoa

l flec

ks.

0.05

x 0

.05

x 0.

20

64C

ut o

f sta

keho

le63

632

Circ

ular

in p

lan,

shar

p br

eak

of sl

ope a

t top

. Sid

es sl

ope v

ertic

ally

and

are

sm

ooth

. Bas

e is c

ircul

ar in

pla

n an

d ha

s a ta

pere

d pr

ofile

. Tru

ncat

ed b

y lin

ear f

eatu

re, C

.27.

0.05

x 0

.05

x 0.

20

65C

ut o

f pit

66. 7

5, 6

7,

73, 7

2, 7

4.75

, 67.

2C

urvi

linea

r in

plan

, rou

nded

cor

ners

; bre

ak o

f slo

pe at

top

is gr

adua

l on

W a

nd sh

arp

else

whe

re. S

ides

are

und

ercu

t, slo

ping

stee

ply

on E

, con

vex,

slo

ping

stee

ply

on W

and

smoo

th, s

lopi

ng v

ertic

ally

else

whe

re. B

reak

of

slope

at b

ase i

s sha

rp o

n S,

impe

rcep

tible

on E

and

gra

dual

else

whe

re.

Base

is ir

regu

lar i

n pl

an a

nd fl

at in

pro

file.


44

Con

text

Feat

ure

Fill

ofFi

lled

wit

hSt

rat A

bove

Stra

t Bel

owSh

ort D

escr

ipti

onD

imen

sion

s (m

)66

Fill

of p

it 65

651

73Fi

rmly

com

pact

ed li

ght b

row

n sa

ndy

silt;

frequ

ent i

nclu

sions

of f

ine,

me-

dium

and

coa

rse a

ngul

ar p

ebbl

es a

nd sm

all a

ngul

ar st

ones

and

occ

asio

nal

inclu

sions

of c

harc

oal f

lecks

and

smal

l pie

ces.

0.80

x 0

.67

x 0.

13

67Fi

ll of

pit

6565

7265

Firm

ly c

ompa

cted

ligh

t yel

low

ish, b

row

nish

-gre

y sa

ndy

clay

; mod

erat

e in

clusio

ns o

f fin

e and

med

ium

ang

ular

and

sub-

angu

lar p

ebbl

es a

nd o

c-ca

siona

l inc

lusio

ns o

f coa

rse a

ngul

ar a

nd su

b-an

gula

r peb

bles

and

smal

l ch

arco

al p

iece

s.

1.15

x 0

.31

x 0.

15

68C

ut o

f sta

keho

le69

692

Sub-

circ

ular

in p

lan,

shar

p br

eak

of sl

ope a

t top

. Sid

es sl

ope v

ertic

ally.

Br

eak

of sl

ope a

t bas

e is s

harp

on

E an

d im

perc

eptib

le el

sew

here

. Bas

e is

sub-

circ

ular

in p

lan

and

has a

tape

red

poin

t in

prof

ile.

0.05

x 0

.05

x 0.

14

69Fi

ll of

stak

e-ho

le 68

681

68Fr

iabl

e to

soft

dark

bro

wni

sh-b

lack

sand

y sil

t; oc

casio

nal i

nclu

sions

of

char

coal

flec

ks a

nd sm

all p

iece

s.0.

05 x

0.0

5 x

0.14

70Fi

ll of

fur-

row

71

7170

71

71C

ut o

f fu

rrow

7070

12, 9

, 33.

72Fi

ll of

pit

6565

7375

, 67.

Wea

kly

cem

ente

d m

id g

reyi

sh-b

row

n sil

ty sa

nd; f

requ

ent i

nclu

sions

of

fine a

ngul

ar a

nd su

b-an

gula

r peb

bles

, occ

asio

nal i

nclu

sions

of a

ngul

ar

and

sub-

angu

lar s

mal

l sto

nes a

nd m

oder

ate i

nclu

sions

of c

harc

oal f

lecks

an

d sm

all p

iece

s.

1.60

x 0

.40

x 0.

15

73Fi

ll of

pit

6565

66, 7

4.72

Softl

y co

mpa

cted

mid

bro

wn

sand

y sil

t; oc

casio

nal i

nclu

sions

of f

ine

and

coar

se su

b-an

gula

r and

ang

ular

peb

bles

, sm

all a

ngul

ar st

ones

and

bu

rnt b

one f

lecks

and

mod

erat

e inc

lusio

ns o

f sm

all a

nd m

ediu

m c

harc

oal

piec

es.

0.90

x 0

.13

x 0.

25

74Fi

ll of

pit

6565

173

Firm

ly c

ompa

cted

mid

yel

low

ish-b

row

n sa

ndy

silt;

occa

siona

l inc

lusio

ns

of fi

ne a

ngul

ar a

nd su

b-an

gula

r and

med

ium

ang

ular

peb

bles

and

smal

l an

gula

r hea

t-affe

cted

ston

es a

nd m

oder

ate i

nclu

sions

of c

harc

oal f

lecks

an

d sm

all p

iece

s.

0.80

x 0

.30

x 0.

50

75Fi

ll of

pit

6565

7265

Softl

y co

mpa

cted

dar

k br

own

silty

cla

y, m

oder

ate i

nclu

sions

of c

oars

e su

b-an

gula

r peb

bles

and

occ

asio

nal i

nclu

sions

of f

ine a

ngul

ar a

nd su

b-an

gula

r peb

bles

, med

ium

sub-

angu

lar s

tone

s and

smal

l cha

rcoa

l pie

ces.

0.67

x 0

.36

x 0.

42

76Fi

ll of

Sta

ke-

hole

7777

2977

Softl

y co

mpa

cted

dar

k or

angi

sh-g

rey

silty

sand

; occ

asio

nal i

nclu

sions

of

fine s

ub-a

ngul

ar p

ebbl

es a

nd c

harc

oal f

lecks

and

smal

l pie

ces.

0.12

x 0

.10

x 0.

29


45

Con

text

Feat

ure

Fill

ofFi

lled

wit

hSt

rat A

bove

Stra

t Bel

owSh

ort D

escr

ipti

onD

imen

sion

s (m

)77

Cut

of

stake

hole

7676

2C

ircul

ar in

pla

n, sh

arp

brea

k of

slop

e at t

op. S

ides

slop

e ver

tical

ly a

nd a

re

smoo

th. B

reak

of s

lope

at b

ase i

s gra

dual

. Bas

e is c

ircul

ar in

pla

n an

d ha

s a t

aper

ed ro

unde

d po

int i

n pr

ofile

. Tru

ncat

ed b

y C

.29.

0.12

x 0

.10

x 0.

29

Appendix 2 Site matrix


46

Gortnahown 1-E2423

47



48

Appendix 3 Groups and subgroups

Group 1 Area 1

Sub-group 1A - PitsPlates: 1, 10-12, 14-15, 18-20, 22, 26-9, 33-4, 36, 43-6, 49-50, 56-7, 59-60, 62-3, 66-8 and 70. Contexts: C.4 (C.3), C.6 (C.5), C.10 (C.9), C.25 (C.26), C.28 (C.27), C.41 (C.40 and C.46), C.48 (C.45), C.54 (C.53), C.60 (C.59), C.62 (C.61), C.68 (C.67), C.70 (C.69), C.82 (C.81, C.97, C.93, C.94, C.95 and C.96), C.88 (C.83, C.84, C.85, C.86 and C.87) and C.92 (C.90 and C.91).

Description:

Sub-group 1A consists of fifteen pits located in area one of Gortnahown 1.These pits ranged between 0.50 and 2.95m in length, 0.29 and 1.85m in width and

0.07 and 0.75m in depth. A cluster of features in the eastern extent of the site included five pits (C.41, C.62,

C.25, C.60 and C.54). C.25 and C.60 were oval shaped pits and C.41, C.54 and C.62 were irregular shaped pits. They all contained fills generally composed of sandy silt with inclu-sions of pebbles and charcoal. To the south-east of these pits was a small sub-rectangular pit (C.4) that contained a single fill of light brown silty sand with pebble, stone and char-coal inclusions.

In the southern extent of the site there were two pits (C.68 and C.70). C.68 was cir-cular with a concave base and C.70 was oval with a concave base. They both contained single fills of dark greyish brown silt with inclusions of pebbles, stones and charcoal.

Three pits were located in the western extent of the site (C.80, C82 and C.88). C.80 was a sub-triangular pit with a flat base. It contained two fills (C.79 and C.89) of sandy clay with inclusions of pebbles and a lot of charcoal (particularly in the upper fill). C.82 was a large irregular pit with a base that tapered to a point. It had dimensions of 1.90m in length, 1m in width and 0.75m in depth and contained six fills ranging from dark brown-ish black silt at the top to light orangish white clay at the base.

C.88 was an oval pit with a base that tapered to a blunt point. This pit was also quite large with dimensions of 2.10m in length, 1.85m in width and 0.64m in depth. It con-tained five fills ranging from mid greyish brown silty clay at the top to pinkish white silty clay at the base.

In the northern extent of the site there were four pits (C.6, C.10, C.28 and C.48). C.10 was the furthest north. It was oval in plan with a pointed base and contained a single fill (C.9) of mid greyish brown silt with inclusions of pebbles and charcoal flecks. C.48 was a sub-rectangular pit with a flat base and a single fill (C.45) of dark brown silty clay with in-clusions of pebbles, stones and charcoal flecks. C.6 was an oval pit with an irregular base and a single fill (C.5) of mid grey sandy silt with inclusions of pebbles and charcoal. C.28

Gortnahown 1-E2423

49


was a large oval shaped pit with a concave base. It had dimensions of 2.95m in length, 1.78m in width and 0.42m in depth. It contained a single fill (C.27) of greyish brown silty clay with inclusions of stones, pebbles and charcoal flecks.

C.92 was located in a small cutting to the west of area 1. It was irregular in plan with a flat base and contained two fills (C.90 and C.91) of sandy clay with inclusions of pebbles, stones and charcoal.

Interpretation:

No finds were revealed during the excavation of area one in Gortnahown 1. This made it difficult to ascertain either a date or a function for the features on the site.

All of the excavated pits contained varying amounts of charcoal, indicating that hu-man activity was involved in their formation. However, the function of these pits remains unclear.

It is possible that the more charcoal-rich pits were fire-related and could possibly have been used as hearths; C.80 for example contained a lot of charcoal. A lack of evidence of in situ burning suggests that it was a pit that was possibly later used for some kind of fire-related activity. The two large pits (C.82 and C.88) located either side of C.80 contained a lot of charcoal in their upper fills suggesting a link; they were probably used for the deposition of waste material from C.80.

C.41 in the east of the site was an irregular shaped, shallow pit. Three stake-holes were cut into its base; the burning of the stakes could be the reason for the charcoal rich fill contained within the pit, which was probably dug to facilitate the insertion of upright stakes, as it seems too irregular and shallow to have served any other function.

It would appear, due to the fact that there was a similarity between the cuts and their fills, that the features in area 1 were contemporary.

Sub-group 1B - PostholesPlates: 6-9, 17, 21, 31, 41, 47-8, 52, 54, 61, and 64-5.Contexts: C.17 (C.18), C.19 (C.20), C.21 (C.22), C.23 (C.24), C.55 (C.50), C.64 (C.63), C.66 (C.65), C.74 (C.73), C.78 (C.77).

Description:

Sub-group 1B contains eight postholes (C.17, C.19, C.21, C.23, C.64, C.66, C.74 and C.78) located within area 1 of Gortnahown 1.

These postholes ranged between 0.15 and 0.45m in length, 0.15 and 0.29m in width and 0.12 and 0.32m in depth. With the exception of C.66 and C.64, which were sub-rectangular and oval in plan respectively, the postholes were circular in plan with concave bases. They all contained a single fill generally composed of sandy silt with inclusions of pebbles and charcoal.


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Interpretation:

The postholes in sub-group 1B, like the pits in sub-group 1A, are difficult to interpret, both due to the general lack of identifiable evidence on the site and also due to the fact that the postholes do not seem to form any particular structural pattern.

There were four postholes (C.17, C.19, C.21 and C.23) just north of a cluster of fea-tures towards the east of the site. It is possible that they were dug for the insertion of posts probably to create some form of shelter, such as a windbreak, for the pits to the south; they are closest to pit C.25.

C.64 and C.66 were just south-east of pit C.41 with three stake-holes in the base and another stake-hole to the west, it is possible that together with the stake-holes, the posts that would have been located here formed some sort of small, flimsy structure; the pur-pose of a structure however is unclear.

Two postholes located to the south-west of the site (C.74 and C.78) were very similar in shape and size. They were located c. 5m apart but were probably connected. As they were situated towards the south-western site boundary it is possible that they could have been related to features beyond the boundary of the excavation.

Sub-group 1C - Stake-holesPlates: 22, 37-9, 40 and 42-4.Contexts: C.42, C.47, C.52, C.56, C.55 (C.50), C.57 and C.58.

Description:

Sub-group 1C consists of seven stake-holes (C.42, C.47, C.52, C.55, C.56, C.57 and C.58) within area one of Gortnahown 1. They ranged between 0.07 and 0.12m in length, 0.07 and 0.11m in width and 0.07 and 0.15m in depth.

Three stake-holes (C. 47, C.56 and C.57) were located in the base of pit C.41. They were circular and sub-circular in plan and had bases that tapered to a rounded point. They all contained a fill of mid yellowish grey sandy silt with occasional inclusions of charcoal flecks. Just west of the same pit was another stake-hole (C.42) which was sub-circular in plan with a base that tapered to a point. This stake-hole also contained a fill of yellowish grey sandy silt with occasional inclusions of charcoal flecks. C.58 was at the base of a pit (C.54). This stake-hole was circular in plan with a base that tapered to a point. It contained a fill of dark brown silty sand with inclusions of pebbles and charcoal flecks.

C.52 and C.55 were located just east of pit C.48. C.52 was a circular stake-hole with a pointed base; it contained a fill of brown silt.

Interpretation:

Four of the stake-holes in this sub-group were associated with pit C.41 which was located just west of two postholes (C.64 and C.66). It is possible that together they formed a small, flimsy structure.

C.52 was just north of a posthole (C.55). They probably formed a small structure such as a windbreak east of pit (C.48) to which they were adjacent.

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The fact that there were no finds or any discernible pattern to the features has left it difficult to interpret this site. Further analysis of soil and charcoal samples should help with our understanding of this area of Gortnahown 1.

Group 2 - Gortnahown 1 Area 2

Sub-group 2A - PitsPlates: 4-8, 12-19, 21, 23-30, 32-58, 60, 63, 65, 67-69, 73, 75-83, 87-98 and 101-13. Contexts: C.3 (C.4 and C.10), C.6 (C.23, C.5 and C.30), C.8 (C.7), C.11 (C.9, C.12, C.33, C.36 and C.45), C.17 (C.18), C.19 (C.20), C.21 (C.22, C.34 and C.35), C.25 (C.24 and C.48), C.27 (C.26), C.28 (C.40, C.41, C.42, C.43, C.44 and C.62), C.37 (C.39 and C.38) and C.65 (C.66, C.67, C.72, C.73, C.74 and C.75).

Description:

Sub-group 2A consists of twelve pits in area 2 of Gortnahown 1 (C.3, C.6, C.8, C.11, C.17, C.19, C.21, C.25, C.27, C.28, C.37 and C.65).

In the central area of the site there was a cluster of features that included six pits (C.3, C.6, C.8, C.28, C.37 and C.47) that ranged between 0.34 and 1.60m in length, 0.23 and 1.12m in width and 0.10 and 0.43m in depth. C.28 was the central pit; it was covered by a spread (C.40) of mid to dark greyish brown sandy silt with inclusions of pebbles, charcoal and oxidised material. This spread extended beyond the pit to the east. Inside the pit there were five fills (C.41, C.42, C.43, C.44 and C.62). These fills differed quite notably; the upper fill (C.41) was mid black sandy silt, C.44 was composed of mid pinkish brown sandy clay, the next fill C.62 was light yellowish brown sandy silt, C.42 consisted of dark black sandy silt and the basal fill (C.43) was composed of light greyish brown sandy silt. Throughout the fills there were inclusions of pebbles and charcoal; burnt bone flecks were included in fill C.41 and slag was recovered from fill C.43.

C.37 was an oval pit with a flat base. It contained two fills (C.39 and C.38) of grey sandy silt and silty sand with inclusions of pebbles and charcoal; there were also inclusions of burnt bone flecks in the basal fill (C.38).

C.3 was sub-circular with a concave base; it contained two fills (C.4 and C.10) of sandy silt with pebble, stone and charcoal inclusions. This pit and its fills had been dis-turbed by later animal activity.

C.6 was sub-oval with a flat base. This pit contained three fills (C.23, C.5 and C.30) that varied from dark grey sand at the top to light orangish brown silty sand at the base. Pebbles, stones and charcoal were included throughout the fills and burnt bone was found in the two upper fills (C.23 and C.5).

C.8 was an oval pit with a flat base; it contained a single fill (C.7) of mid to dark grey-ish brown slightly sandy silt with inclusions of pebbles and charcoal flecks.


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C.47 was irregular in plan with an irregular base into which a stake-hole was cut (C.50). It contained a single fill (C.46) of dark greyish brown sand with inclusions of peb-bles, burnt bone and charcoal flecks.

There were five linear pits in this sub-group (C.11, C.19, C.25, C.27 and C.65). These ranged between 2.70 and 3.64m in length, 0.37 and 0.80m in width and 0.18 and 0.20m in depth.

C.11 was adjacent to the eastern boundary of the site. This linear pit was orientated north/south and contained five fills (C.9, C.12, C.33, C.36 and C.45). There seemed to be three fills at the top of the pit (C.9, C.12 and C.33) however a furrow that was truncating the pit had caused some disturbance so it is possible that there was only one upper fill that appeared different in places due to this later activity.

C.12 and C.33 were composed of dark greyish brown clayey silt and C.9 was com-posed of dark greyish brown silty clay; they all contained inclusions of pebbles and char-coal; C.33 also contained burnt bone. C.45 was mid brown clayey silt with pebble and charcoal inclusions and C.36 was greyish brown clayey silt with inclusions of pebbles, charcoal and flecks of burnt bone. A quern stone was recovered from the base of the pit.

To the north of C.11 and also alongside the eastern boundary of the site was C.19. This pit was truncated by a furrow on the south-west. It was orientated south-west/north-east, had a flat base and contained a single fill (C.20) of dark brown stony sand with inclu-sions of pebbles, stones (including heat cracked stones) and charcoal.

C.65 was located to the west of C.19. This was a curvilinear pit with a flat base. It contained six fills (C.66, C.67, C.72, C.73, C.74 and C.75) that ranged from light brown sandy silt at the top to light yellowish brownish grey sandy clay at the base. Pebbles, stones, charcoal, heat affected stones and burnt bone flecks were included in the fills. A polished stone was recovered from the basal fill (C.67). Some parts of this pit were deeper than others and some of the sides were undercut, these different levels contained different fills, suggesting that it could have originally been a smaller feature that had later been re-cut; hence different areas were backfilled at different times.

C.27 was located to the west of C.65. It was orientated east/west. The base was con-cave in profile with a stake-hole (C. 64) cut into it. This feature contained a single fill (C.26) of dark brownish grey pebbly, sandy silt with inclusions of pebbles and charcoal and flecks of burnt bone.

C.25 was located to the south of C.27 and was also orientated east/west. This feature had a base that tapered to a point and it contained two fills (C.24 and C.48) of sandy silt with inclusions of pebbles, stones and charcoal. Flecks of burnt bone were recovered from C.24.

The two remaining pits in this sub-group (C.17 and C.21) were located between the linear pits. C.17 was situated between C.11 and C.19. It was a sub-rectangular pit with a flat base and dimensions of 1.69m in length, 0.61m in width and 0.14m in depth. It contained a single fill of light brown silty clay.

C.21 was to the west of C.17. This was an oval pit with a concave base and dimensions of 1.25m in length, 0.85m in width and 0.36m in depth. It contained three fills (C.22,

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C.34 and C.35) of silty clay with inclusions of pebbles, heat cracked stones, charcoal and bone.

Interpretation:

C.28 seemed to be a significant feature on the site. Burnt bone, charcoal and slag inside the fills were suggestive of domestic human activity. It seems likely that burning occurred in the pit, as evident from the fill of burnt clay (C.44) that was covered by a charcoal rich fill (C.41). The spread (C.40) over the top of the pit contained charcoal and oxidised material, indicative of burning activity.

C.8 was very likely to have been dug to facilitate the deposition of the waste burnt material from nearby pit C.28.

Apart from the linear pits, most of the pits on the site showed, through their fills, an association with burning in some way, either through the inclusion of charcoal, burnt bone or heat shattered stones. This suggests that they were all related; the fact that they were all concentrated in a small area of the site would further support this theory.

C.11 and C.19 were very similar linear pits, a quern stone that seemed to have been intentionally placed worked side down at the base of C.11 shows that human activity was responsible for these features. The function of these two large shallow pits however is unclear, however their similarity and the fact that they were both aligned north-south suggests that they were related. Likewise C.25 and C.27 were parallel, east-west orientated linear features, it is not clear whether these were pits or small slot trenches. Charcoal and burnt bone inclusions in the fills does confirm the presence of human activity though and nearby stake-holes suggest that there could have been some sort of small structure in this part of the site, north-west of the other features.

The occurrence of charcoal and burnt bone throughout the features suggests that all of the above mentioned pits date to the same occupation phase. Further analysis of charcoal and bone samples should help to date the features and might also help with our understanding of the site.

Sub-group 2B - PostholesPlates: 3, 10, 17-18, 20, 30, 35-6, 39, 104-106, 108, 111 and 113-16.Contexts: C.13 (C.14) and C.16 (C.15).

Description:

There are two postholes in sub-group 2B (C.13 and C.16). C.16 was truncating pit C.6. This was an oval posthole with a concave base and di-

mensions of 0.38m in length, 0.29m in width and 0.17m in depth. It contained a single fill (C.15) of mid grey silty sand with inclusions of pebbles and charcoal flecks.

C.13 was located just south of C.16, this was also an oval posthole; it had a flat base and dimensions of 0.34m in length, 0.30m in width and 0.22m in depth. This posthole was filled with mid brownish grey silty sand with inclusions of pebbles and charcoal (C.14).


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Interpretation:

The two postholes would have been created by human activity for the insertion of wooden posts. They could have held a structure, possibly a windbreak to the north-east of the area of activity around C.28 (pit with evidence of burning activity).

Sub-group 2C - Stake-holesPlates: 62, 66, 70-72, 84-6 and 113-16.Contexts: C.50 (C.49), C.53 (C.54), C.55 (C.56), C.58 (C.59), C.60 (C.61), C.64 (C.63), C.68 (C.69) and C.77 (C.76).

Description:

Sub-group 2C consists of eight stake-holes (C.50, C.53, C.55, C.58, C.60, C.64, C.68 and C.77). They were all either circular or sub-circular in plan with bases that varied between concave and tapered in profile. Dimensions of these stake-holes ranged between 0.04 and 0.12m in length, 0.04 and 0.10m in width and 0.08 and 0.29m in depth.

C.50 was located in the east of pit C.47 and was filled with dark brown sand (C.49). C.53 was in the base of pit C.19 and was filled with mid brown silty sand (C.54).C.55 was just east of pit C.19 and was filled with light brown silty sand (C.56).C.58 was located to the south of pit C.37 and was filled with dark orangish grey sandy

silt (C.59).C.60 (truncated by furrow C.51) was located between C.11 and C.21 and was filled

with mid greyish brown silty clay (C.61). C.64 was cut into the base of a linear pit (C.27); it was filled with dark orangish brown

sandy silt (C.63).C.77 was just south of linear pit C.27 and was filled with orangish grey silty sand

(C.76).C.68 was located to the south of linear pit C.25; it was filled with dark brownish black

sandy silt (C.69).All of the stake-holes, apart from C.60 contained inclusions of charcoal in their fills.

Interpretation:

The stake-holes on this site were somewhat spread out and although it is possible that they could have facilitated upright stakes for construction purposes it is not very obvious. There is a stake-hole in C.27 and one to the north of the same feature as well as one to the south of C.25; if these two linear features were slot trenches then these stake-holes could be evidence of further structural supports. C.50 inside pit C.47 was probably related to stake-hole C.68. The two stake-holes in the east of the site (C.53 and C.55) were also associated with a linear feature (C.19) however their function here also remains unclear.

C.58 located between pits C.28 and C.37 is fairly isolated, its purpose on the site is therefore not apparent.

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Appendix 4 Finds Register

Context Find Category Fabric Artefact type Description36 1 Stone Limestone Quern stone L. 270 mm., W. 260.5 mm., Th. 70

mm. Col. 10YR 6/8 (brownish yellow). Complete. Sub-square in shape, rectangu-lar in section. Both sides slightly concave. Extremely polished on the upper side. Rounded edges.


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Appendix 5 Plant Remains Report

By Penny Johnston

IntroductionThis report presents the results of plant remains analysis from Gortnahown 1, Co. Cork (E2423). The site comprised miscellaneous evidence for settlement.

MethodologyThe samples were collected on site as bulk soil and were processed using machine-as-sisted floatation (following guidelines in Pearsall 2000). The floating material (or ‘flot’) from each sample was collected in a stack of geological sieves (the smallest mesh size was 250mm). When all the carbonised material was collected the flot was then air-dried in paper-lined drying trays prior to storage in airtight plastic bags. The samples were scanned under low-powered magnification (x 10 to x 40) using a binocular microscope.

ResultsA total of 9 samples were examined but no plant remains were present in these samples (see the results of scanning in Table 1). No further analysis is required.

ReferencesPearsall, D. 2000 Paleoethnobotany: a Handbook of Procedures. New York, Academic

Press.

Sample Context Charcoal Seeds % scanned2 3 Medium Absent 10021 59 Low Absent 10020 89 Low Absent 10033 84 Low Absent 10019 53 Low Absent 10015 27 Low Absent 10030 91 Low Absent 1009 26 Low Absent 10040 96 Low Absent 100

Table1:ScannedsamplesfromGortnahown1,Co�Cork(E2423)

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Appendix 6 Osteoarchaeological Report

by Linda G. Lynch

IntroductionArchaeological excavations were undertaken at the site known as Gortnahown 1 (licence number E2423) in Co. Cork by Eachtra Archaeological Projects in 2007 as part of the archaeological resolution associated with the construction of the N8 Fermoy to Mitchel-stown bypass (Jacinta Kiely, pers. comm.). The site was excavated in two sections – Area A and Area B.

Cremated bone, identified as human in this study, was recovered from one of the lin-ear features, [C.27] in Area B. This feature also had two stake-holes in the base.

Three other samples of cremated bone were recovered from Gortnahown 1. These are detailed in Table 1. These were all identified by the writer as either animal, possible animal, or probable animal in origin and will not be analysed in the present report. Only the sample of human cremated bones (cremains) recovered from [C.27] will be examined in this report.

Sample No. Context No. Weight (g) Identification25 24 6 Probable animal30 36 9 Possible animal46 41 2 Animal

Table1�Listofcontextscontainingcrematedanimalbone

Scope of StudyThis report details the analysis of the human cremated bone recovered from one context at Gortnahown 1.

MaterialsThe cremated bone recovered from Gortnahown 1 was processed and separated from the soil matrix by the client and forwarded to the writer for analysis. The actual weight of bone recovered is detailed in the Discussion chapter. While four samples of cremated bones were recovered from Gortnahown 1 just one was human in origin.

MethodsThe fragments of cremated human bone were identified and analysed to determine the minimum number of individuals (MNIs). The fragments were too small to determine either the age-at-death or the sex. No pathological lesions or dental diseases were observed on the fragments.


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All of the cremated bone was weighed, the condition of the fragments was described, and the sizes of the fragments recovered were examined. These processes allow for the examination of a cremation deposit in terms of methods of cremation and possible associ-ated ritual. All percentages have been rounded off to one decimal place.

All of the raw osteological data on the cremains and the inhumation recovered from Gortnahown 1 are housed with the writer. The cremains will presently be returned to the client, and the curation will be determined by the National Museum of Ireland.

AnalysisSample 15 [c26]A total of 14g (118 fragments) of cremains were recovered from a linear feature [C.27], which also contained two stake-holes in the base. All of the fragments appear to be hu-man in origin. It was possible to identify 7g or 50% of the sample to bone type. These are listed in Table 2.

Main Skeletal Division Identified Skeletal Elements Total weight (g)Cranium and mandible 2 maxillary/mandibular socket fragments;

1 unidentified tooth root.1

Torso - 0Limbs 13 long bone shaft fragments 6Unidentified fragments - 7Total 14

Table2�ListofidentifiedhumancremainsinSample15,includingweightsofmainskeletalparts

There is no evidence of duplication of skeletal elements, and neither is there any indi-cation of other individuals of different ages-at-death in the sample, such as an adult and a child. The cremains are those of a single juvenile individual. It is not possible to determine a more accurate age-at-death. No dental conditions and/or skeletal pathological lesions are present on the cremains.

The largest fragment is from a long bone and it measures 25.4mm in length. The volume of bone recovered is too low to assess the overall fragment size. In addition, this analysis is not typically valid in the cremated remains of juvenile individuals, primarily due to the considerable variety in the actual size of juvenile individuals.

The cremains are all white in colour. There is no significant twisting evident but there are concentric fractures. The edges of many of the fragments are very smooth.

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Synthesis and Discussion

Summary of AnalysisA summary of the analysis is provided in Table 3.

Sample No. Context No. Feature type Weight of cremains (g) MNI

15 26 Linear feature with two stakeholes in the base

14 1 juvenile

Table3�SummaryofcremainsweightsandMNI,Gortnahown1

No dental conditions and/or skeletal pathological lesions are present on the remains. In general the bones are all white. There is little twisting but concentric fractures are evi-dent. The edges of the fragments are smooth.

The largest fragment is from a long bone and it measures 25.4mm in length. The vol-ume of bone recovered is too low to assess the overall fragment size.

DiscussionIn total, four samples of cremated bone were recovered from Gortnahown 1. Just one of these was human in origin, the others being identified by the writer as either animal, probable animal, or possible animal in origin. This small deposit of just 14g of the cre-mains of a human juvenile was recovered from a linear feature, which also contained two stake-holes in the base. The other features that were excavated in this area (Area B) of Gortnahown 1 comprised a series of pits, linear pits, post-holes, stake-holes, and three furrows. Initial indications are that the site is prehistoric in origin (J. Kiely, pers. comm.).

The bone fragments were split and cracked due to the intensity of the cremation pyre. Concentric fractures were also recorded in some of the fragments of the long bones. The latter are U-shaped fissures in long bones and concentric fissures in the proximal heads of the femora and humerus (McKinley 2000, 405). That fracturing can only occur in fresh, typically fleshed bones, as the lack of an organic content in dry bones militates against the occurrence of such fractures in dry bone samples (ibid.). This at least indicates that a fleshed body or body parts were cremated. In general, the cremains recovered from Gort-nahown 1 were white in colour. This indicates complete cremation at pyre temperatures of between 654OC and 1200OC (after Mays 1998). It also indicates that the people carry-ing out the process were entirely familiar with the complex procedures involved.

It is clear that the 14g of bone recovered here do not represent the total skeletal re-mains of this juvenile. There is no specific data for the expected weight of bone that may result from the cremation of a juvenile individual of any given age-at-death, as there is for adult individuals (McKinley 1989). However, clearly 14g of bone are not representative of the remains of a juvenile individual. A number of factors need to be considered when assessing the disparity between the actual weight of bone recovered and the expected weight of the cremains of an adult individual. The cremains were scientifically excavated and recovered, therefore loss of bones during the excavation and post-excavation stage


60

may be dismissed. It is possible that a significant volume of bone has disintegrated in the soil through time. However, studies have indicated that – primarily through changes in the chemical properties of bone during the cremation process – cremated bone tends to survive very well in most soils, including acidic environments (Mays 1998, 209). It is more likely that only a selection of cremains were deposited in this linear feature. With the small volume of bone recovered it is not possible to ascertain whether the cremains sample was removed from a primary, larger cremation, or if only selected body-parts where cremated to begin with.

It was noted during the analysis that the edges of the fragments were smooth. This indicates that the fragments are worn. When bone is cremated it often takes on an almost glass-like quality, and typically has sharp edges where the bones shatter. McKinley (1994) has noted that unprotected cremations (that is, those not contained within a vessel) may be more prone to destruction. It is entirely possible that the wear present on the fragments from Gortnahown may be due to post-depositional taphonomic factors. However, it is possible that the small deposits were retained for some time prior to deposition.

That was the premise put forward for a cremation burial excavated by E. Dennehy in Greyabbey, in Kildare town (Dennehy 2005). This tiny deposit of just 16g of the cremains of a young human juvenile appears to have been retained for some time after cremation and prior to deposition, as evidenced by the smoothened edges of the bone fragments (Lynch and O’Donnell 2007, 110). In an Early Bronze Age cist cremation burial recently excavated by Tempus Archaeology in Ballysallagh (Dowling and Wilkinson 2006), a sin-gle worn piece of white cremated bone was recovered in the uppermost levels of the main cremation deposit (Lynch 2009). It appears probable that this single fragment of bone was from an earlier cremation (of an adult), had been retained by somebody, who perhaps kept it on their person, and was later deposited with the main cremains of another adult in the cist (ibid.). Burial is but one option for cremated bones (see Aspeborg 2005; Wil-liams 2008). We should be careful making the modern assumption that disposal in a pit or cist was the ultimate important fate for the cremation. Perhaps scattering cremains on the surface was more important.

The selectively of cremains is a classic feature of archaeological cremation burials (for example, see Lynch and O’Donnell 2007) and is clearly indicative of a complex post-cremation treatment of the cremains which we are only now beginning to truly examine. It is difficult to surmise why a selection of the cremains of a child should be deposited in this linear feature, which may have been marked by two stakes. At present, the function of this site is illusive. Preliminary assessment suggests that it is prehistoric in origin (J. Kiely, pers. comm.). It is perhaps these types of prehistoric sites which present the greatest challenge to the archaeologist in terms of interpretation.

Another much larger site comprising numerous pits, post-holes, and stake-holes was recently excavated by Aegis Archaeology at ‘Kylemore’ in Newtown, Castletroy in Lim-erick (Lynch 2008). Small deposits of cremated human bone were recovered in a number of the pits. Many of the latter had one or two stake-holes cut into them. Analysis of this site is on-going. Despite the high number of features excavated at that site its function still

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remains elusive. No dating evidence was immediately recovered but radio-carbon dates are forthcoming. The pits with one or two stake-holes and containing a small quantity or cremains appear to be strikingly similar to the feature containing the cremains excavated at Gortnahown 1. Clearly the process of deposition was of vital importance to the com-munity but the actual reasoning behind such practices remains completely elusive.

ConclusionsA small volume of the cremains of a human juvenile were recovered from a linear feature excavated at Gortnahown 1. Two stakeholes were uncovered at the base of the pit, which suggests they were some type of markers. The fleshed juvenile had been well cremated, yet only a small sample of his/her cremains were chosen for deposition in this manner. It is unknown what was done with the remainder of the cremation. The wear on the frag-ments suggests that this deposit was retained for some time after cremation and prior to deposition, although it is possible that the wear is due to site-specific taphonomic factors. The function of the site is unknown, although it is surmised that it is prehistoric in date. This site further adds to recent research on Irish cremations and confirms that there were extremely complex processes association with cremation.


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ReferencesBass, W. M. 1995 Human Osteology. A Laboratory and Field Manual. 4th ed.

Columbia: Missouri Archaeological Society.

Dennehy, E. 2005 Archaeological Excavation and Monitoring Report, Grey Abbey Friary, Nurney Road, Kildare. Licence No. 04E0233. Margaret Gowen and Co. Ltd: Unpublished Report for Client.

Dowling, G. & F. Wilkinson 2006 Preliminary (Stratigraphy) Report on the Excavation of a Bronze Age Cemetery at Ballynasallagh townland, Ballynacarrigy, Co. Westmeath. Licence Number 07E0121ext. Tempus Archaeology: Unpublished Report for Client.

Lynch, L. G. 2008 Stratigraphic Report on the Archaeological Excavations at ‘Kylemore’, Newtown, Castletroy, Co. Limerick. Licence No. 07E0934. Aegis Archaeology Limited: Unpublished Report for Client.

Lynch, L. G. 2009 Osteoarchaeological Report on cremated bones excavated at Ballysallagh, Ballynacarrighy, Co. Westmeath Licence no.: 07E0121ext. L. G. Lynch: Unpublished Report for Client.

Lynch, L. G. & L. O’Donnell 2007 ‘Cremation in the Bronze Age: Practice, Process and Belief ’ in, E. Grogan, L. O’Donnell, and P. Johnston Bord Gáis Éireann. T he Bronze Age landscapes of the Pipeline to the West, 105-14.Wicklow: Wordwell.

Mays, S. 1998 The Archaeology of Human Bones. London: Routledge.

McKinley, J. 2000 ‘The analysis of cremated bone’, in M. Cox & S. Mays (eds), Human Osteology in Archaeology and Forensic Science, 403-21. London: Greenwich Medical Media Ltd.

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McKinley, J. I. 1989 ‘Cremations, expectations, methodologies, and realities’, in C. A. Roberts, F. Lee & J. Bintliff (eds), Burial Archaeology. Current Research, Methods, and Developments, 65-76. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports 211 (British Series).

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Gortnahown 1-E2423

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Appendix 7 Animal Bone ReportThe excavations at Gortnahown 1 Area 2 resulted in the recovery of very small quantities of bone. Material from the prehistoric site consists mostly of indeterminate fragments of burnt bone recovered from the fills of two pits and the house foundation trench.

Bronze Age periodThe fills (C24, C36 & C41) of a foundation trench (C25) and two pits (C11 & C28) yielded very small quantities of burnt bone. All are totally calcined from being in contact with intense heat suggesting that bones were either discarded into hearths during meal-time or that food waste left lying about on the living surface for a while was eventually swept into the fire places during house-keeping duties. The fills of one of the pits and the trench (C24 & C36) produced virtually equal amounts of bone (34 & 33 specimens) but just one of these can be taken to species level and it represents the distal articular surface of an adult sheep/goat tibia. Eleven fragments are sufficiently large to indicate that they belong to a large-sized animal such as a cow and the remaining specimens are not deter-minate to species. The fill of the second pit (C41) yielded a total sample of just 12 highly fragmented burnt bones and none of these are diagnostic.

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Archaeological Report - Gortnahown 1, Co. Cork (Ireland)

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