Archaeological Assessment and Test Excavation

This past week, Hawkes Archaeological Services carried out a test excavation in North Cork as part of pre-planning conditions for a new house. In this case, the clients were required to engage the services of a suitably qualified archaeologist to carry out an archaeological impact assessment of the development site in accordance with recommendations made by the Planning Department of Cork County Council.

The purpose of the test trenches was to establish the nature and extent of archaeological deposits and features present in the development area and allow an assessment to be made of the archaeological impact of the proposed development. This is a common procedure where works are scheduled to take place close to known and recorded archaeology.

This proposed development is situated within a plot of land close to a recorded monument that is listed in the Record of Monuments and Places (RMP). The RMP is a statutory list of all known archaeological monuments provided for in the National Monuments Acts. There are over 120,000 Recorded Monuments included in the RMP, some 19,000 of which are in county Cork. Where any works are proposed that might impinge on a RMP site the National Monuments section of the Department of Culture, Heritage and Gaeltacht must be consulted at least four weeks in advance.

In this case it was possible that associate sub-surface features relating to the monument could survive within close proximity and it was for this reason that targeted test trenching was agreed to establish if this was the case. If significant remains are encountered they are usually left in situ and the relative authorities informed. The results of the test trenches inform the overall archaeological impact assessment of the development and will outline the proposed mitigation (if any). Any proposed mitigation strategy is subject to the approval of the National Monuments Service and the National Museum of Ireland.