Archaeological excavation report, E3793 Aghnaskeagh Area 12 Site 108, County Louth

Archaeological Development Services Ltd, having been commissioned by Louth County Council, the Roads Service NI (Department for Regional Development) and the National Roads Authority carried out archaeological assessment along the route of the proposed A1/N1 Newry-Dundalk Road. The route consists of 14.2km of 2-lane dual carriageway with 5.7km of associated link roads from Cloghoge roundabout, south of Newry to the Ballymascanlan interchange north of Dundalk. As part of the road development, a number of archaeological and historic sites were within the construction zone of the road scheme and were determined eligible for excavation before the construction began. Site 108 equates with Feature 8 discovered in the Phase 1 site testing; it consisted of a concentrated charcoal spread 0.66m by 0.80m. Following the Phase 2 surface stripping of the area, seven archaeological features were revealed. These consisted of three likely hearths that were clustered toward the west of the site; a second cluster of two probable hearths and a stakehole located approximately 8m to the east of the first group and approximately equidistant from both clusters (between and to the south) was another likely thermal feature. The close proximity, similar function and presence of flaked lithic artefacts in the three thermal features to the west of the site area indicates contemporaneity, as do the attributes of the second cluster to the east of the site.