2007:697 - CURRAGHATOOSANE, Kerry

Pre-development testing was carried out in a 14.5-acre greenfield site as a constituent part of a pre-planning impact assessment at Curraghatoosane, Listowel. Topsoil was removed by track machine utilising a flat 2m-wide grading bucket.

A single area of archaeological activity was revealed. It comprised two spreads of heat-shattered stones (C.6 and C.7), a pit and a modern agricultural ditch, C.9.

A section was excavated through the ditch where a single fill was recorded. This comprised a loosely compacted mid-yellowish-brown silty clay with occasional small stones and pebbles. C.9 was found to be a mere 0.06m in depth with a U-shaped profile and a flat base. A single sherd of modern white-glazed pottery was found at the base of the ditch in the cutting. C.9 was found overlying and truncating the pit and was subsequently removed by hand.

A cutting 0.35m wide was excavated through the pit. It was sub-oval in plan with gradually sloping sides and a flat base. It was orientated north-west/south-east, measured 1.9m (north-west/south-east) by 1.45m by 0.17m in depth and contained two fills. The primary fill comprised moderately compact mottled light-yellow/orange/grey silty clay with occasional charcoal chunks and occasional heat-shattered stones. The secondary fill comprised moderately compact mid-grey silty clay with frequent charcoal flecks and chunks and occasional heat-shattered stones. The pit was later recut.

The spread C.6, which was amorphous in plan, had a maximum length of 3.5m (north-east/south-west) and a maximum width of 2.9m. A cutting 0.3m wide was excavated through the spread. A maximum depth of 0.13m was recorded within the cutting. C.6 comprised frequent heat-shattered stones in a charcoal-enriched silty matrix with frequent charcoal chunks.

C.7 contained a single fill of firmly compacted light-grey silty clay with occasional small lumps of redeposited orange clay subsoil, moderate charcoal flecks and chunks and occasional small decayed stones.

Essentially, the archaeology encountered during testing at Curraghatoosane probably represents the heavily denuded and truncated remains of a Bronze Age fulacht fiadh. The spreads C.6 and C.7 may originally have formed a single coherent mound that was later levelled and truncated by modern agricultural works associated with the ditch feature C.9. The pit may reflect the reduced/truncated remains of a trough.

A metal detector C scope CS7 was used to examine the spoil from approximately 30% of the trenches, under licence number 07R0244. The spoil was raked and was examined visually as well as with the metal detector. The archaeological artefact-bearing potential of the spoil from the trenches proved negative. No artefacts were retrieved during testing of the proposed development site. Post-excavation analysis is ongoing.