2018:427 - Gurteenroe 1, Cork

Excavation by Rubicon Heritage Ltd at Gurteenroe 1 was undertaken as part of the N22 Baile Bhuirne–Macroom Road Scheme (Lot 3) Archaeological Consultancy Services Contract. The excavation was carried out on behalf of Cork County Council and funded by Transport Infrastructure Ireland.

The excavated features consisted of a large, flattened mound of heat-shattered stones and charcoal (17 m by 17 m by 1.3 m deep), along the western side of a stream. This overlay two sub-rectangular troughs. Trough (029) was plank and stone lined, dating to the Middle Bronze Age, and had a possible water management feature between it and the stream. Trough (023), dating to the Late Bronze Age, had evidence for an internal wattle lining in the form of thirty-nine stakes and stakeholes. Mound material had slumped across both trough features post-use.

Specialist analysis

The charcoal from the burnt mound at Gurteenroe 1 seems to reflect various stages of trough construction at the site, where oak, alder and hazel were the primary woods being used. This is supported by the worked wood assemblage, with lower occurrences of ash, pomaceous woods and holly also found in such activities. The variance between the use of oak and alder, as evident in the different slots of the burnt mound is arguably the result of the shifts in these taxa used for trough construction and associated features at Gurteenroe, the debris of which was utilized as firewood, resulting in intermittent burnt mound waste at the site.

In trough (029) oak dominated the wood charcoal assemblage, with lesser amounts of hazel, alder, willow/poplar, ash, pomaceous woods, cherry-type, birch and holly.

Compared to earlier activity at trough (029), the charcoal assemblage from deposits and features associated with trough (023) had a proportionally higher hazel content, particularly from trough lining (040) and from stakeholes (067:19) and (067:26). Oak values were highest from base fill of the trough (028) and from fill (027). Other minor species recorded from the trough include ash and willow, while pomacoeus woods, cherry and birch were present in the stakeholes (067)

The results of the wood identifications revealed that seven wood taxa were used in the construction of the troughs and their associated features. Oak and alder dominated, each accounting for 33% of the assemblage. Hazel made up 17% with willow accounting for 14%. Just 1% of the wood identified was pine, holly and ash. Overall the material was in a moderate state of preservation, some elements were degraded but no obvious insect channels were noted from wood samples.

This is one of the first times that organic residue analysis has been undertaken on stones recovered from burnt mounds. This analysis was undertaken by Bristol University on behalf of Rubicon Heritage Ltd. Two samples from trough fills only produced trace lipids and at present it is unclear how well lipids are preserved on this site type in general, and whether trace, or no lipids really does indicate that no animal carcass products were processed in the trough features.

A total of three ceramic objects were recovered from topsoil on-site. All were found to be modified Pearlware sherds, which have been trimmed into a roughly circular shape for use as gaming pieces.

A single naturally elongated cobble was recovered from context (034), with damage along one end which may have removed traces of use wear. The opposite end possesses a small patch which appears to have worn smooth through use, possibly suggesting infrequent use as a rubbing stone/hammerstone.

A large quantity of early modern artefactual material was recovered from the topsoil in the environs of Gurteenroe 1 (distance unknown). This comprised 158 pieces of pottery, 11 pieces of glass, 1 piece of brick, 16 pipe stems, 2 pipe bowls and 10 metal objects. A fragment of blue glassy slag was also recovered c.100 m from the site. Glassy slag can be the waste of two processes: the smelting of iron ore in a water-powered blast furnace or the melting of cast iron in a foundry to produce cast iron objects. The slag is deemed by Dr. Paul Rondelez as highly likely to be waste from the blast furnace operating in the Macroom area in the 17th century. However, blast furnace slag can be found at quite considerable distances from the furnace location due its frequent use in metalling roads and other surfaces. The location of Macroom’s 17^th century blast furnace remains unknown.

Dating

A total of nine radiocarbon dates were obtained from alder, cherry-type, hazel and willow charcoal and hazel wood for the burnt mound material, two troughs and one of the stone spreads excavated at Gurteenroe 1. These indicated that the burnt mound activity recorded at the site took place over two phases. Phase I occurred during the Middle Bronze Age, sometime between 1602-1433 cal BC. Phase II was Late Bronze Age in date, with burnt mound activity occurring sometime between 1207-909 cal BC. One dendrological date of wood from trough (029) indicated that the measured tree-ring series dates from 1774BC to 1648BC. The best estimated felling date range for the tree, from which this timber came from, is after 1616BC.