Archaeo-geophysical Survey, 03R147 N6 Galway to East Ballinasloe , County Galway

Twenty-six areas of detailed magnetic survey were commissioned by the National Roads Design Office (NRDO) at Galway on behalf of Galway County Council along the proposed route of the new N6 toll motorway crossing the county and forming the westernmost section of the new link to Dublin. Work was commissioned against a specification (O’Sullivan, 2003) issued by the NRDO Project Archaeologist in September 2003 that sought the geophysical assessment of selected areas of the proposed road take for evidence of hidden or buried archaeological features, objects or deposits, using the magnetic gradiometry method. This was to inform upon a subsequent programme of excavations. A joint bid was originally submitted by ArchaeoPhysica and Substrata in accordance with the specification, but this arrangement was modified, with ArchaeoPhysica as lead contractor. The original timetable stipulated by the NRDO was that a preliminary report should be submitted in December 2003. However, it became evident once work was underway that the fragmented nature of each of the survey areas was going to limit the rate of survey, as was the need to determine the access arrangements into each land holding on an individual basis by the surveyors as work proceeded. In the event, the survey took substantially longer than expected by all parties and full reporting was delayed until mid 2004. For a county ostensibly rich in archaeological remains, the surveys revealed surprisingly few monuments. Evidence of intense cultivation in the past was found throughout the corridor and it would appear that perhaps much had been lost through this, probably during the era of agricultural ‘Improvements’ and reorganisation of the landscape. The position of each area was determined by J. O’Sullivan of the NRDO in Galway according to the distribution of sites already known from a previous field examination and the local monuments record with areas with sites already known taking precedence. In practice, this meant that some areas included areas of ground unsuitable for survey although every attempt has been made to cover the whole of each specified area. In some places vegetation prevented survey; it was noticeable how much land had been lost to undergrowth since the aerial photography of the route was commissioned, a few years ago. Once survey had been completed, it became clear that there is little or no correlation between the quantity of buried archaeological features and the proximity of upstanding monume