부산대학교 도서관

This report, prepared on behalf of Westmeath County Council, has been undertaken to describe the results of an excavation carried out in advance of a proposed road development, on a site at Site 6 at Ballyvoneen (OS sheet 4). A 30m by 30m area was fully excavated by Tim Coughlan under licence to Dúchas – the Heritage Service (Licence Ref. 02E0990) for Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd. The excavation took place between 3rd and 11th October 2002. A desk-based archaeological assessment was included in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) of March 2001. This identified 24 sites of archaeological potential within the area of Contract 3 that would be directly impacted by the proposed development. An aerial photographic survey along the proposed motorway corridor was carried out in May 2001 to look for the presence of previously unidentified archaeological sites or areas of potential (Keeley 2001). The desktop assessment recommended that a programme of test trenching be undertaken in all areas of land take prior to the commencement of construction works. Linear testing (Licence Ref. 02E0141) was carried out by Dermot Nelis of Irish Archaeological Consultancy Ltd and began on the 11th February 2002 and was completed on 10th April 2002. Site 6, was uncovered on Wednesday 20th February 2002 and identified as a series of timbers, which was interpreted as a puddle togher or trackway covering an area of c.20 m square. No detailed hand investigation or recording was undertaken at this site due to the nature of the subsoil remains. As a consideration to ensuring satisfactory preservation, and in consultation with the Project Archaeologist, it was agreed not to undertake detailed testing and recording but rather record the timbers by a brief written record along with a photographic record as they appeared within the trenches. It was recommended in the stratigraphic report that the area of archaeological potential located at Site 6 be fully excavated in advance of construction works. Topsoil stripping of an area c.30 m x 30 m around the site would allow features to be revealed and assessed. The excavation of Site 6 (Licence ref. 02E0990) took place between 3rd and 11th October 2002. It became apparent during the stripping of the site that the timbers identified as a possible togher were in fact natural tree roots. Most of these extended northwards to the river and had been preserved in fen-peat associated with the low- lying river flood plain. The fact that so many of the timbers were parallel gave the impression that they were part of a structure. Nothing of archaeological significance was identified on the site.