Archaeological excavation report, E3795 Aghnaskeagh Area 12 Site 110, County Louth

Louth County Council, the Roads Service NI (Department for Regional Development) and the National Roads Authority are currently proposing a Road Scheme, the 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. At this location, testing had discovered a single feature (Feature 2 from testing). After clearing the feature measured 0.95m east to west by 0.60m north to south; it was dish-shaped in profile with a maximum depth in the centre of 0.08m. There was no cut per se as the feature consisting of a burnt patch of clay with charcoal inclusions. The excavated feature appears related to agricultural practice, in particular tree clearing.