2021:580 - BALLALEASE NORTH AA4, Donabate, Dublin

Full archaeological excavation of an isolated pit uncovered during earlier test excavations took place on 6 October 2021. A 10m x 10m cutting was opened by mechanical excavator under archaeological supervision centred on the pit. No further features were uncovered. The oval pit measured 0.8m east-west x 0.66m x 0.4m in depth. It contained four fills, a basal and upper fill comprising dark stoney deposits of distinctive burnt mound material separated by two more sterile fills. The intervening sterile deposits suggest a period of inactivity between two phases of use though whether for months or possibly longer cannot be said.

Burnt mound sites, where the distinctive deposits of heat-affected stone in a charcoal-rich soil matrix are usually encountered, use heated stone to boil/heat water for one or a variety of domestic, industrial or ritual purposes. Isolated pits with the distinctive deposits are often interpreted as ‘roasting pits’ or ‘pot-boilers’, using the same water-heating process for cooking but on a more limited scale. A single flint flake was retrieved from the topsoil during the excavation.